First Ride on the Dragon..Lived to Tell About It!

You may have noticed from a previous post that I was a tad nervous about riding on the Dragon. Had heard several horror stories, including one from my own brother-in-law who had to drive off the road to avoid a head-on collision with a truck.

On our drive over, about 2 hours from our cabin, I'm thinking 'did I tell the kids I love them?' or 'if something happens to us both, our kids will be parent-less'....ya know, all kinds of nice thoughts. And then we come across this, a few miles from the dragon ===============>>>>



Now this pic is after the bike was removed from the tree. It was actually upside down, several feet off the ground, stuck in barbed-wire. We happened upon this only minutes after the crash, just in time to witness the driver, thankfully, walking out of the woods. He was banged up, in full gear, but with blood on his face and walking with a limp. Speed limit in this area was 55mph so he was probably going pretty fast and came upon a patch of gravel that had spread across the street. Not sure he had a chance to see it or avoid it...anyway, thank god he was okay...bike was not, but it can always be replaced, right?

While we are waiting for EMTs and trucks, I'm thinking 'man, this is an omen....turn around while you can'...'it's not too late to chicken out', etc. Have you gathered yet that I am a worry-wart? I mentioned my concerns to my husband and asked if we should just skip it...'Eff no' he said. Well, not his exact words...but something like that. You get my drift.


So we left the emergency personnel to do their thing and road on.  We entered the Dragon, at the end where most finish, I think, so there were not any signs indicating we were on the road.  I thought I heard my husband say something like 'this is it' or 'here we go'...can't hear too well with my full helmet and half the time I just nod in agreement having no idea what he is taking about. I sit and wonder...

I notice the road is a bit windy and I think I am on the Dragon but not quite sure. Lots more turns so I finally ask 'hey, is this it?'. 'Duh' he says.  I breathe a sigh of relief, somewhat, and decide to enjoy the ride. I was in good hands.

Now, there was not a lot of traffic, it was a weekday afternoon, and my husband was being nice to me...we took it pretty slow,  not slow enough for others to pass but not fast enough for me to lose any skin on the pavement. Just fast enough for this anxious first-timer to be okay. And I was...at one point I was going to tell him to speed it up but didn't want to get too carried away.  Still have lots of livin' left to do...

This tiny piece of metal is what separates bikes from a sheer drop off the side of the mountain. Although, I didn't notice too many of these along the road...where would the excitement be if a piece of metal was there to stop you from driving off a cliff? Hmmmm...

Lots of sports bikes on this road and man, I bet it would be fun to ride the Dragon on one.  See how my confidence has grown? I was originally going to chicken out and now I'm ready for my own crotch rocket. Nah...I'll leave that to the young'uns...thanks.


These two were pretty tame compared to several I saw...some were blurs as we passed each other.

Still have a lot to learn...thought this was the top of the dam where The Fugitive was filmed. Apparently, it is not...oh, well....it is still pretty.

Caution...windy road ahead 

Can get a bit of a feel for the road..I'm thinking lots of pegs are lost at this curve

The guy did a Peter Pan, right off of this dam, right here ~Fugitive

So there ya have it...not only did I survive, I actually thoroughly enjoyed myself. Would I do it again, you ask? Abso-freakin-lutely!