dwasson
09-29-2003, 12:12 PM
So, I’m in Tennessee and one of my goals is to get up to the Smokey Mountains and drive the Marauder on a stretch of US 129 called the “Tail of the Dragon” http://tailofthedragon.com/ This stretch of road is well banked and paved and boasts 318 curves in 11 miles.
Monday was driving rain all day but Tuesday came up clean and clear. The wife and I drove up to Gatlinburg on Monday night so that she could get an early start on shopping. Gatlinburg may be one of the major centers of crap distribution in this country. With a target rich environment like that you can sleep easy knowing that she didn’t go away empty handed.
She finished shopping and we left town to the sound of shop owners crying and asking her to hurry back. We filled up the car (thank God and Shell for credit cards) and headed south on the Foothills Parkway.
The Foothills Parkway is a very nice piece of pavement. It’s scenic and well maintained with light traffic. There are scenic overlooks periodically. Some of them were spectacular in the clear air following the rain.
I drove briskly but not fast enough to get a squeak out of the passenger seat. I don’t think that the tires squealed once.
The Foothills Parkway ends at US 129 where you head west. 129 is much twistier. Eastern Tennessee is interesting in that most of the major roads run from northeast to southwest, paralleling the ridges. These are linked occasionally by very twisty roads that run east/west. US 129 is one of these.
After a few miles of 129 where I began to warm up the tires and brakes we reached the overlook that is considered to be the start of the Tail of the Dragon. When I arrived there were 4-5 motorcycles and a newer BMW 3 series. The bikers were from Michigan and we chatted while I waited for the Bimmer to start his run. The record from the overlook to the store, 9 miles away is 11 minutes on a motorcycle. I had no idea what the MM would do but I knew that it would do it better without the wife in the car. Where to leave her without causing a fight?
I gave the Bimmer three minutes and went in chase. We pushed hard, but not too smart. I didn’t know the road and didn’t have a rhythm yet. My wife wasn’t yelling yet so I know that I wasn’t as fast as I could go.
This is the only car I’ve ever driven where my speed was limited by the seats. As large as I am I was sliding around and could not stay centered in the seat. I don’t know what the skinny guys do. When I arrived at the little store 16 minutes later I knew that I had to fix that problem.
I offered my wife the chance to wait at the store and have a Coke. Then I went into the luggage in trunk and grabbed a couple sweatshirts from the suitcase. I rolled them into a sausage and jammed them between me and the console and between me and the door. Now we have something.
I promised to be right back, rolled the windows down, and turned up Ray Wylie Hubbard’s “Growl” on the stereo. I waved, clicked the OD defeat switch, did a mild brake torque and headed back toward the overlook.
The first few corners aren’t too tight, enabling you to build up a rhythm and get comfortable tossing the car around. By the time I hit Crud Corner, a very tight 180 degree left hander, I was getting into it. You can see across this corner and down the road for a few hundred feet. This lets you clip the apex. Entering Crud is slightly downhill. The front tires made a little noise as the corner tightened and it began to understeer. Then I floored it and the rear came around gently and we were in a nice four wheel drift for a hundred feet or so.
After Crud is one of the longest straits. It may be 600 feet long. I think I may have hit 65 mph by the time I had to brake hard but I was too busy to tell. A little over 2 miles down the road is a left-right-left combination with a rock wall on your right. Hearing the exhaust screaming in the right window and seeing the rock blur past is very invigorating.
Anyway, about 2.5 miles down the road is where I scared myself. There is a left hander, about 30 degrees or so, with a hump at the apex. The road falls away, just when you need the traction the most. This was the only place that I wondered if I was doing the right thing.
After that everything became a blur of trees, rock, G-forces and screaming V8. I arrived at the overlook 15 minutes later with a big stupid grin and real feeling of accomplishment. I parked the car and got out to drink a bottle of water and talk to some of the guys waiting there. One of the bikers said that he heard me coming down the hill to the overlook and wonder what was making that noise.
A few minutes after I arrived at the overlook we heard a motorcycle coming down the hill fast. We listened to the tires and this beautiful engine note. When he came into sight we saw a scarred Ducati 998 ridden by a smallish guy with ragged leathers. He looked like he rode hard. It turns out that he is a local and rides this road a lot. He was doing the road right.
After I finished the water it was time to head back and get the wife. I left when I hadn’t seen anyone leave for while but I must have missed someone. Just before Hog Pen I saw two full dress bikes ahead. Quicker than I would have believed I was on them and they were aware of me. They sped up, embarrassed that a car had caught up with them. Soon they were getting sparks from the footpegs and I was still gaining on them. Too cool.
They slowed down and let me pass and I floored the big black car and left them looking at the bumper.
Coming back across that hump was less dramatic than the first time. I made it back to the store in 13.5 minutes.
I can’t recommend this drive enough. It is the most fun you can have with your pants on.
Monday was driving rain all day but Tuesday came up clean and clear. The wife and I drove up to Gatlinburg on Monday night so that she could get an early start on shopping. Gatlinburg may be one of the major centers of crap distribution in this country. With a target rich environment like that you can sleep easy knowing that she didn’t go away empty handed.
She finished shopping and we left town to the sound of shop owners crying and asking her to hurry back. We filled up the car (thank God and Shell for credit cards) and headed south on the Foothills Parkway.
The Foothills Parkway is a very nice piece of pavement. It’s scenic and well maintained with light traffic. There are scenic overlooks periodically. Some of them were spectacular in the clear air following the rain.
I drove briskly but not fast enough to get a squeak out of the passenger seat. I don’t think that the tires squealed once.
The Foothills Parkway ends at US 129 where you head west. 129 is much twistier. Eastern Tennessee is interesting in that most of the major roads run from northeast to southwest, paralleling the ridges. These are linked occasionally by very twisty roads that run east/west. US 129 is one of these.
After a few miles of 129 where I began to warm up the tires and brakes we reached the overlook that is considered to be the start of the Tail of the Dragon. When I arrived there were 4-5 motorcycles and a newer BMW 3 series. The bikers were from Michigan and we chatted while I waited for the Bimmer to start his run. The record from the overlook to the store, 9 miles away is 11 minutes on a motorcycle. I had no idea what the MM would do but I knew that it would do it better without the wife in the car. Where to leave her without causing a fight?
I gave the Bimmer three minutes and went in chase. We pushed hard, but not too smart. I didn’t know the road and didn’t have a rhythm yet. My wife wasn’t yelling yet so I know that I wasn’t as fast as I could go.
This is the only car I’ve ever driven where my speed was limited by the seats. As large as I am I was sliding around and could not stay centered in the seat. I don’t know what the skinny guys do. When I arrived at the little store 16 minutes later I knew that I had to fix that problem.
I offered my wife the chance to wait at the store and have a Coke. Then I went into the luggage in trunk and grabbed a couple sweatshirts from the suitcase. I rolled them into a sausage and jammed them between me and the console and between me and the door. Now we have something.
I promised to be right back, rolled the windows down, and turned up Ray Wylie Hubbard’s “Growl” on the stereo. I waved, clicked the OD defeat switch, did a mild brake torque and headed back toward the overlook.
The first few corners aren’t too tight, enabling you to build up a rhythm and get comfortable tossing the car around. By the time I hit Crud Corner, a very tight 180 degree left hander, I was getting into it. You can see across this corner and down the road for a few hundred feet. This lets you clip the apex. Entering Crud is slightly downhill. The front tires made a little noise as the corner tightened and it began to understeer. Then I floored it and the rear came around gently and we were in a nice four wheel drift for a hundred feet or so.
After Crud is one of the longest straits. It may be 600 feet long. I think I may have hit 65 mph by the time I had to brake hard but I was too busy to tell. A little over 2 miles down the road is a left-right-left combination with a rock wall on your right. Hearing the exhaust screaming in the right window and seeing the rock blur past is very invigorating.
Anyway, about 2.5 miles down the road is where I scared myself. There is a left hander, about 30 degrees or so, with a hump at the apex. The road falls away, just when you need the traction the most. This was the only place that I wondered if I was doing the right thing.
After that everything became a blur of trees, rock, G-forces and screaming V8. I arrived at the overlook 15 minutes later with a big stupid grin and real feeling of accomplishment. I parked the car and got out to drink a bottle of water and talk to some of the guys waiting there. One of the bikers said that he heard me coming down the hill to the overlook and wonder what was making that noise.
A few minutes after I arrived at the overlook we heard a motorcycle coming down the hill fast. We listened to the tires and this beautiful engine note. When he came into sight we saw a scarred Ducati 998 ridden by a smallish guy with ragged leathers. He looked like he rode hard. It turns out that he is a local and rides this road a lot. He was doing the road right.
After I finished the water it was time to head back and get the wife. I left when I hadn’t seen anyone leave for while but I must have missed someone. Just before Hog Pen I saw two full dress bikes ahead. Quicker than I would have believed I was on them and they were aware of me. They sped up, embarrassed that a car had caught up with them. Soon they were getting sparks from the footpegs and I was still gaining on them. Too cool.
They slowed down and let me pass and I floored the big black car and left them looking at the bumper.
Coming back across that hump was less dramatic than the first time. I made it back to the store in 13.5 minutes.
I can’t recommend this drive enough. It is the most fun you can have with your pants on.