Tail of the Dragon now has grilled hot dogs, brats, and Italian sausage at the Gap on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays. SPECIAL: Buy a combo dog with chips and drink and get a FREE foot long with choice of toppings. Cold drinks also available. Great prices and no wait.

JUNE 29: We sadly report the first fatality on the Dragon since September of 2008. Rider went off the road on Saturday for no apparent reason. No one witnessed the crash and friends and LEOs searched for hours before finding the accident. Reason for the accident is not yet known.

The weekend was fairly busy here with many bikes seen all over western North Carolina. With so many riders in the area accidents were numerous. We heard of quite a few on the Dragon and Cherohala and at least three riders had to be flown out (very exspensive flight). Please take all precautions when riding these mountain roads. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is to STAY FOCUSED. This means maintain control of your speed, both acceleration and braking. Look ahead and slow down before you get into the corners.

JUNE 25: Yesterday a semi wreck on I-40 near the TN/NC line involving hazardous materials shut-down the Interstate for an hour and a number of semis decided to take the next closest route, US 129. One became stuck on the Dragon and a second one tried to pass. Traffic on the Dragon was held-up for a while. SEE PHOTOS AT BOTTOM OF PAGE

JUNE 20: What a day for local events!! The Dragon and Cherohala as always attracted a lot of motorcycles and cars, the Cherohala Challenge brought bicycles into the mix, the Cheoah River brought kayakers and rafters into the whitewater, and the hiking trails were packed with naked hikers honoring National Hike Naked Day. If you weren't here you really missed a great day of riding and gawking at the sun burns.
The new paved pull-offs have really improved the Dragon making it much easier to pull over to allow passing or to stop to watch the show go by. So far about two-thirds of Dragon has been improved.

JUNE 14: Saturday was busy, but not as many riders as last week. The weather was good even though a few sprinkles fell here and there in the afternoon which is typical here in the mountains. Don't let the rain forecasts keep you away.
We are sad to report that there have been four recent deaths as a result of separate accidents on NC 28 between Fontana and the Dragon. Three motorcycle riders (one a passenger) and one car driver died within a short distance of each other at 20 Mile Bridge and 10 MPH Guardrail Corner. PLEASE SLOW DOWN !!!!!
JUNE 13: Nancy and I returned from a week off riding the roads of Virginia. Found some really good twisties north of Roanoke along the BRP this trip and made a quick run over to Richmond for Saturday night. The roads were boring, but Richmond has a lot going on. We'll be posting the highlights in a few days. We have a winner who correctly guessed that we were in Richmond to see the live Glenn Beck Show. Congratulations to Mike Herndon.
JUNE 6: TOD ON TOUR - We are in Natural Bridge Virginia for a few days of 2-up riding. Once again we'll be exploring the roads up and over the Blueridge Parkway. Also lots of Civil War sites to visit. Follow us on TWITTER and TWITPICS.
JUNE 2: TDOT is busy paving the pull-offs on the Dragon. They are working their way southward from Tabcat Bridge and have already paved half a dozen areas. This will make it much easier to pull over to let traffic pass.

We followed a semi over the Dragon taking both lanes much faster than it should have but luckily there were only a few motorcycles on the road at the time. A THP car stopped him at one point but did not issue any ticket.


PARSONS BRANCH ROAD HAS REOPENED. Parsons Branch is a one way primitive road out of Cades Cove with numerous water crossings. It comes out on the Tail of the Dragon at mile marker 4.

We have had a wait and see attitude about reporting the LEOs activity on the Dragon this year. It looks like the THP has finally seen the light and is providing a more professional approach to enforcement. We have no problem with tickets for those who deserve them, but we can't understand the heavy handedness that we have seen in the past. Hopefully we'll see that no more. A special thanks the the THP officer who recently chased a wreckless driver who it turned out had a revoked license for DUI. He was escorted to jail in cuffs.

DEVILS TRIANGLE BULLETIN: We have heard that coal truck activity has been heavy on the Triangle recently. These trucks use most of the road in curves, spill coal on the roadway, and make riding much more dangerous. Thanks to Jerry King for the update.

We have heard some great news recently. Seems a major player is planning to have a huge rally in Asheville in 2010. Since Tennessee ran Honda Hoot out of town this new event has chosen North Carolina for their big bash. More on this later.