Saturday, August 18, 2012

Back of the Dragon

August 13, 2012
Claypool Hill, VA


My night’s rest was a good one and in the morning I took my dirty clothes to the laundrymat  and then went to TheBlueDogArt Café for breakfast.  While there I met Fred Pasternak a local retiree, and Butch Hogan whose wife Sue owns the restaurant.  Annie was the waitress and lunch cook took my order for eggs, coffee and bacon.  Butch engaged me in conversation while also admiring Sophia and the carriage rack that I have on the back for all my gear.  He noticed my USMC(Ret) gearbox plate and told me his stepson is an active duty Marine with a coupla or more tours into Afghanistan under his belt.  After breakfast I returned to the hotel, packed up my gear, headed to the laundramat and got my clothes, then stopped at the café once again to get a pic with Butch and I….but this time Sue was there so we got all of us in the pic.

It was pretty easy to get back on the Blue Ridge exactly where I got off and I headed towards Roanoke.  The ride was pure joy.  Easy speeds, no traffic, lush greenery, beautiful views, fresh air.  I enjoyed taking deep breaths of clean air….no exhaust fumes up here!  I was so enthralled with this ride that I must’ve stopped at every lookout to click a photo and look at the valleys below dotted with farms, small towns, thin line roads barely discernible from this distance as they meandered through the rolling hills of the valley.  Before I knew it the road weaved its way around Roanoak.  When I arrived at Peaks of Otter I found a lodge/restaurant so I decided to go in and treat myself to a nice lunch.  It was good to take a break and just enjoy the rest but found the cell phone didn’t connect at this spot.  My waitress was Keegan and she also filled my empty coke bottles with water for the next leg of the ride.

Back on the road heading for Fancy Gap per my original plans, it didn’t take me long to realize that I was not going to make it to The Dragon Inn north of Chilowee and The Dragon’s Tail if I continued on to Fancy Gap.  So, I kicked in a new plan and decided to go to the 150 mile marker as required by the SCMA for this event then bail out from there to get back on the I-81 up to Tazewell to ride south on US16 “Back of the Dragon”.

I found the 150 marker and took pics.  Then about 10-15 miles later found a paved road that took me off the BRP, down thru Gap countryside and farms, and into Floyd where I tanked up again.  Garmin got me onto the US8 which finally got me south onto I-81.  While speeding along to Taz I realized that it was getting late and that instead of riding the 16 southbound from Tazewell it would be better to ride it northbound from Marion.

So I took the 2nd Marion exit which is on the 16 and headed into town from I-81.  As I pulled into a station for gas, and a receipt for proof of visit, the thundergods moved in and drenched the area keeping me under the gas station for about 45 minutes.  When I left there it must’ve been close to 7:30pm and I didn’t go more than a mile when I came upon the Marion Town sign and had to stop for a photo proof….as I came to a stop two deer bolted out from behind the sign where they were feeding and ran up the hill.

Not too far from the Town Sign, the climb started for the Back of the Dragon and the first 180 deg ascending switchback was experienced. 

The ride was a combination of good curves but not too many switchbacks.  The road was bordered with the treed mountain on one side and either more woods or dropping cliffs on the other side.  Since the sun was relatively low on the horizon there were mostly shadows; and in some places it seemed the trees almost made a canopy over the road.  It was a good medium climb up the first mountain and a matching descent into the valley on the other side.  A bit of level road and then I think it climbed again.  Im writing this about 4 days after the ride so there are a number of details that I have forgotten.  After coming off the last ridge the steepness shallowed out and the road had two or three left curves before coming to a right curve through trees whose bark was completely covered in vines of some sort.  It seemed almost like a jungle.  I wanted to get a photo of this section of the road but a car came up from behind and I just continued on.  Light was waning so the photo probably wouldn’t come out too well.  My Garmin had me arriving in Tazewell at a spot where the 16 took a sharp right at a stop sign onto another road but the town of Tazewell was actually another 3-5 miles away. 

When I arrived in Taz it was almost dark and I took a left onto the business 16.  This took me through a community and I was expecting to enter a downtown area but instead rode by what appeared to be a fairgrounds where I could see the top of a Ferris Wheel over the low buildings.  Right after that there was nothing so I turned around and headed to where I entered the town, turned left, and found a gas station to get my receipt.  Now it was totally dark and no photo ops. 

However, on the highway in one of the valleys there was a sign showing US16 and Tazewell at 19 miles.  There was still plenty of light so I stopped for a photo op and on the 2nd photo using the timer I was walking back to retrieve the camera when dogs started barking.  They ran down the dirt driveway and came to the road’s edge growling and barking at me.  This was a clear sign for me to get outa Dodge.  One dog hid in the bushes and glared at me…the other came about 3 feet into the road and watched me.  I knew what they were waiting for….they wanted to chase the bike as I rode away.  I started the bike and just as I started rolling the both charged fast!  HA!...I was ready for them and poured on the gas leaving them in the ‘dust’……so much fun J. 

After tanking up I put Maryville in the Garmin and was directed back out to the fairgrounds and to highway US19 which I think was named ‘Lonesome Pine”.  Making a left I felt totally disoriented in the dark and was very unsure of the direction as I was expecting to make a right towards I-77 for a southernly run back to I-81.  I stopped at some large business parking lot under their lamp and consulted my AAA map and figured out what Garmin was doing….it was taking me on a route paralleling I-81…a more direct route of shorter distance. 

At Cedar Bluff, just outside of Richmond I got rained on…never saw it coming because of the dark…so I pulled into a McDonalds and had a small bite to eat.  It was already 10pm and my Droid Maps told me I was 200 miles from Maryville…a good 3 hours from The Dragon Inn where I had a room waiting for me.  So I called it quits and got a room at the Timberline Lodge, a local motel on Claypool Hill, intersection of US19 and I think 460.  The motel was clean and comfortable but my windows and doorway faced the highway below and I could hear the semi’s loud backfiring from engine braking.

It had been a long day so I called it a night and zonked out.  Tomorrow I will stop to visit Dennis, owner of The Dragon Inn, and then ride the Dragon.
C ya mañana,
Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell: 949-433-0761

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