My first time

[shelli1769]

My husband and I are planning to come up June 30 and ride The Dragon on July 1. We're staying at The Ironhorse. From there, how is the ride? I've only been riding about 4 months but I do feel like I can do it. I just want to know what to expect. From there is it uphill or downhill or both? Any info would be appreciated!!

Thanks,
Shelli:)

[dadfcd@peoplepc.com]

Hi Shelly, I Don't Know Where The Iron Horse Is,but I Just Rode The Dragon For The First Time On 060606, Take Out The Zeros And I Didn't Realize Until After The Ride What Day It Was, Thank God!!!!
The Best Advice I Can Give You Is To Ride The Smokies For A Day Or So And Get Familier With The Mountains And Curves, Unless You Already Ride Them Where You Live, I Am From Michigan And Its Real Flat Here Compared To The Smokies And The Dragon.when We Rode The Dragon We Were Going Up From The Foothills.we Started Our Trip In Gatlinburg And Made A Big Circle And It Was Awesome.someone Else On This Site Told Me To Look Where You Wantto Go And That Worked Greatwhen You're Not Used To The Curves And Mountains Together.i Hope I Have Helped You Be Careful And Be Safe!!!

[GSing]

Shelly,

Spent last weekend at the Iron Horse and did the Gap several times. 1 st, you'll enjoy the Iron Horse. Close to everything and peaceful.

The ride up the 28 from the Iron Horse is a good warm up ride. Gradual twists that get closer to what you'll see at the Dragon. Road is in good condition, better as you enter Tenn. As you get to Fontana Village and before the Gap proper, there is a section called Little Dragon. Run it a few times to warm up.

A friend passed along a few suggestions that helped on my first trip.

Ride your ride. Don't feel the need to push your self right off.

DONOT...DONOT...DONOT cross the center line. The scenery is beautiful. Resist the urge to look out over the mountain. Pull over.

Speed limit is 30 MPH. I stayed in that area at first with no problems. I'm on a BMW 650 GS loaded with gear .

Both up hill and down hill. The ride will feel like two different routes depending on the out or back ride.

Lots of pull offs to catch your breath or get out of the way for faster traffic.

Most important, smile for the camera. You'll do fine. :D

[Goober]

Shelli

it's a fabiulous ride, and congrats to you for your first few months. main things to keep in mind is going slow and enjoying the ride at your own pace. Scan the road ahead as far as possible and look through the turns. But most of all leave with good memories, it's just a road, but does require a little more attention than most


keep an eye in the mirror for faster riders, give them some coutrsey room to pass but do not run yourself off the road at their expense, most regulars will know where it's safe to pass if you just move a little to the right of the lane and hold your pace.

enjoy!!

[shelli1769]

Thanks for the info, we're starting our trip from the NC side and going on into Gatlinburg. I'm taking everything in that anyone tells me. I'm very excited and pretty nervous too. I'll just have to keep telling myself to "look where you want to go!" and not let any other riders make me nervous. From all I've seen and heard, I definately will NOT cross the yellow line and I will not be going very fast either. Thanks again!

[SKNL2]

Defintitely respect it but don't be imtimidated by it. It's just a road -- a beautiful, curvy, road. You will be fine.

[Goober]

Shelli

if all else fails, when you make your obligatory stop at "the store" (deals gap), just ask any of the staff if there are any "locals" around, most would be glad to tell you of the road conditions and or give yawl an escort ride through at a nice easy pace.

Oh yeah, when you buy your obligatory 'dragon' sticker? do not put it on until you get home!!!.... bad JuJu to put it on before then

[LBF]

For a Dragon newbie the most important piece of info is to keep your bike in a lower gear than you would normally use. I often make Dragon runs using mostly 2nd and third gear on my FZ1.

[Chench53]

Hi Shelli, you'll enjoy the trip, and you will definitely enjoy the Iron Horse lodge. I stayed there three times now, and it keeps getting better. For those who don't know about it, here's their website: http://ironhorsenc.com/

I keep checking the home page because when we were there over Memorial Day weekend, they lined up a big group of riders with their bikes and took some pictures of us all, either for advertising or on the web page. :D

Enjoy the Dragon and ride your own ride. All good advice above. For me, with three times there and four years riding experience, I still consider myself a Dragon newbie, because it is a challenging road, but which I enjoy each time.

Gerry

[TwistedCBR]

My input, thought it may not be anything new, you're staying on 28 from what I have gathered. Knowing what I do now here is what my plans would be
-ride to robbinsville
-head 129n to chrla skyway
-ride all of that 100ish miles (fill up @ robbinsville)
- stop @ the resort to fill up, suck in that experience there....meet brad, ben, and others
-head through the gap, all the way
-ride the foothills then double back (fill up when possible, bunch of stop-pull offs

---you'll love everything, the skyway has elevation changes and its great to drive---the gap has technical turns which are fun to dive in, imo---foothills has wide long turns for the most part with lots of picture taking areas---


That's my 2 cents, or you can sit in your room in gatlinburg and drink beer all day watching everything flood :(

[shelli1769]

Thanks to all for the wonderful advise! I know we'll have a great time. I have made a mental note of all the tips you've given. I will be check my map and picking my route, the husband always follows so I choose the way! I'm really looking forward to it.
Thanks again!!