Solo Road Trip to Tail of the Dragon: Most dangerous road?

I just hope my parents aren't watching this. Do not end up on here. You hear me? You will not end up on here. It is so foggy I can barely see. Some of you said that the Tale of the Dragon was overrated and that this is where it's at. I'm about to leave on the first stop of my road trip going to Wheels Through Time first, right? And then we're heading out to Tale of the Dragon, Cherahala Skyway, Smoky Mountains. Now let's put my GPS to sleep so it doesn't think I'm stealing my bike because I did not connect the fob. All right, let's go. The first stop, Wheels Through Time Museum, has over 300 rare and vintage motorcycles. Everything is American made and everything runs. We're here! Hopefully with enough time. They close in like an hour and a half or less. Thank you. This runs, that runs, this runs, this runs. 1911. Look at these dashes. Oh my gosh, how many miles? 16,000. You can smell the oils in here. Oh my gosh, look at that one. Whoa, is this a police bike? No, it's actually someone's bike that they would go to church with. Whoa. I do, yeah. Yes, I watch it. You do? That's so funny. Yes, I saw the way you went down to Florida. Yes, cool. Nice to meet you. Nice meeting you. What's your name? Tom. Tom. Is that your Tenderay? Yes. That's a nice bike. Thank you. The next day, we would start the journey into the Smoky Mountains. I know many of you ask, why do I do these trips alone? I rather ride alone than in a group where I feel lonely. When I do ride with others, I don't ride with just anyone. And valuable friendships take time. But also, not needing to coordinate schedules, riding at my own pace, and just me and the road, it can be very peaceful. Got my room, unpacked my bags, and I decided I'm going to treat myself tonight. The next day, I planned to meander through the countryside, somewhere there would be no phone signal. Okay, that wasn't part of the plan. I got lost. But the neat thing about getting lost are the unique things you stumble upon you'd never have found otherwise. Like this cute horse. I didn't mean to keep spooking. What Google Maps considers to be this town's most updated post office. And these goats in someone's front yard. It just made finally arriving at the Smoky Mountains that much sweeter. I made it. and it started to rain. Whoa, I thought I saw it in the distance. That's some real good timing. You made it just in time. I know, I did it on purpose. We let you know we saw a motorcycle accident today Oh. I don't want to know about that. Why would they do that? The next day would be the tail of the dragon. Sure, it's on many lists as one of the most dangerous roads in the U.S. for motorcyclists, but I have a different view on that. So I am one hour from the tail of the dragon. I'm going to head up there, eat some lunch, and head down the curves down through Terra Hollow Skyway and I might make it home tonight. Apparently I'm only 240 miles from home. It's 11 in the morning right now, so tpd. We will see. But it does look like it's going to rain, so I am prepared. I'm going to just leave in my rain suit right now instead of wait until it starts raining on me. I did not bring waterproof gloves, so hopefully my battery-powered heat gloves will survive in the rain. That'll work. Perfect. Thank you so much. It's a beautiful day. Look at that mist. Okay, oh no. I still have to put the directions in my phone. Before the dragon would be the Foothills Parkway. I wasn't sure how much of it I'd be able to see since fires earlier in the year shut down the roads for construction for the summer, but I had to give it a shot. Look at that view. Beautiful. We are currently on the Foothills Parkway right now. Let me get back in there. I didn't know yet I'd be dealing with another problem besides fire. It is so foggy. I can barely see. Oh my gosh. I thought it was my visor fogging up, but nope. Kind of creepy like a horror movie. Look at that view. I feel like I just passed through heaven. This is like the top of the world. Actually, it is called top of the world. I'm never going to make it to the tail of the dragon if I keep stopping at every beautiful view. Oh wow. Look up there. You can see the wall of fog. Let's go. There were so many beautiful pullout spots. I couldn't help but keep stopping. Oh, this is a good one too. Look at this. Hi. Are you looking at me because you want me to take your picture? Well, we could do that, but you're going to do the tail. That's what I'm going to. Yeah. He's guiding me on it. Oh, nice. Thank you. So we haven't seen each other in 42 years. Whoa. That's a long time. Okay, I'm going to take a few and then a closer one too. Great. I'll probably see you guys at the dragon then. Oh yeah. Be safe. You too. Thanks. It isn't until I start editing that I realize how much I interrupt people when my helmet's on. Sorry about that, guys. About the tail of the dragon being dangerous. Crashes ranging around 80 to 100 per year. 65 to 75% involving motorcyclists. Not to mention, if you do go down, help may be hard to come by. Like this man who crashed in the dragon and was stranded for 24 hours with no cell service. I think I got a broke sternum, ribs, maybe back. We're about 10 30 this morning. I've been laying here ever since. I have my own theories on the dangers of the dragon. Today I was going to put them to the test. Sorry, it's being stupid, but you know, that's what I do. Uh, I just hope my parents aren't watching this. This wasn't the most ideal conditions for my first time riding the dragon, but having the roads practically all to myself on a rainy Tuesday in April almost made it worth it. And I still had one destination on this road. Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort. Time to get some food, warm up these cold fingers, and probably stay here tonight. I don't know, we'll see what the rain's gonna do. My finger is so cold. I feel like I can barely, I can feel it, These are the only vegetables I could get. That's the one con about traveling among the Smoky Mountains. If you're a vegetarian or if you really like vegetables, good luck. The rain is pretty much done. If I left right now, I'd get there at like seven to eight o'clock, so I think I'm just going to ride those curves again, this time dry, and then I'll just go as far as I can get. There's the metal dragon. You can see it better from here. It wasn't long before the sun came out and I rode the dragon again. Look how beautiful, dry, and sunny it is. Look at it just a few hours earlier. I didn't mean to crowd you all, but this side's prettier. For those of you that said the tale the dragon was overrated, I still had one more road to try. A road you all said was even better than the dragon. Pump first, pay second, move vehicle last. Thank you. I only have 93. I'm sure Jacques won't mind. Yeah, the Tiger 660. Uh-huh. It's tall. I didn't expect that. Yeah, I know. I do test them all the time. I'm supposed to test this one this summer. Oh, yeah? What do you do? Test motorcycle. That's your job? That's my second job, yeah. Are you serious? Yes. It's on YouTube. It's AMS Motorcycle. What's your name? Michelle. Michelle, nice to meet you. I'm Carolyn. Lots of girls riding here. Yeah. Is that a lot? You're riding alone? Uh-huh. I thought that was a really big cigar for a second. Nope. Hello. Hello. Did you leave something? Yes, I was gonna go grab it. Oh, thank you. Yes. I've been waiting for you to come back here. Thank you so much. You're welcome. There you are. Thank you. You have a great day. You too. Thank you. So, as far as this being an incredibly dangerous road, I didn't think so, but I ride very conservatively, well below my skill level in on a new road. Considering no fools are doing this ridiculousness, or even worse, this, best to head up the Dragon early in the morning or during the week if you can when the roads are emptier. I think as long as you ride within your means, ride within your limits and below, actually, you'll be fine. Like, I didn't have a single close call. I stayed in my lane the whole time. There wasn't a second where I almost veered off a cliff or into the opposite lane. Well, I've got a little under 200 miles to go until I get home, so I'm gonna ride down the Cherohala Skyway and I'll be home probably tomorrow. I don't think I'm gonna make it tonight. The sun's already setting. Tale of the Dragon, complete. Many of you said you like Cherohala a lot more than the Dragon, that at 5,000 feet elevation, it would be more scenic and would have more long sweeping curves. Leah Rick and one of her videos on Got2Go mentioned that the Cherohala took 34 years to build and 100 million dollars. We'll see how sophisticated my taste is. Hello again. No, not this time. I just thought this place looked really pretty. I had to stop and look. I think this is where Stacey from Ride2Food came on her ride in the Smoky Mountains. 5,000 feet elevations, 20 mile per hour turns, next 18 miles. And it's seven o'clock at night. I don't think I should do Cherohala tonight. I think I should go to a hotel locally and then in the morning come up to Cherohala. I could be in the middle of nowhere with no signal when the sun goes down. So I think that's what I'm gonna do. I know Robbinsville is a town so I'll just head that way. If there's anything I learned about road trips, it's to go with the flow, let your plans be broken, and enjoy the ride. Whatever that means for you. Something I read about Cherohala was that it can be desolate at night and extremely dangerous in the winter months. There are no facilities other than a couple of restrooms for the entire 41 miles so make sure you have enough gas to make the crossing. There is little evidence of civilization from views that rival or surpass any from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Although the Tiger 660 is lighter than some of the other bikes I've taken on road trips, it's pretty tall so I still need some tricks in order to handle it, which you can see in my short rider tricks video and the review on it will be next week. I'm here at the base of the Cherohala Skyway. Some of you said that the Tale of the Dragon was overrated and that this is where it's at. These are where the gnarly curves are. So Tale of the Dragon is about 11 miles of curves and Cherohala is about 18 miles of curves. Personally, I thought Tale of the Dragon was great so I'm excited to see this one but there are a couple warning signs. Motorcycle advisory calling this a high incident corridor and then a notice to motorcycles 5,000 feet elevation. I'm just gonna get home a little later today but I think that's gonna be worth it. 4,000 feet elevation. I don't know what that means or if anyone cares but there you go. It's chilly up here. My ears just popped. Y'all want a picture? Okay. I could tell you're from up north because I saw your shorts and then I saw Canada. I'm like, oh yeah, I'm cold. This is beautiful. My own personal verdict, scenic-wise, Cherohala definitely beats the Dragon. Riding-wise, I love the tighter curves of the Dragon. I was pretty glad once I started heading downward into the sun and warmth and not being able to find vegetables easily in the Smokies these past few days was making me crave one of my favorite cafes in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which luckily I was already passing through anyways. It's crazy to think that before I knew about simple tricks for handling taller or heavier bikes, I almost quit riding thinking I just couldn't handle motorcycles. That couldn't be further from the truth. You are always more capable than you think. Who knows how many adventures people miss out on because they stop at, I can't. Click over here to see more road trip adventures. See you in the next one.