Day 8 of the Tail of the Dragon Tour.
May 5, 2023

We visited the best of the Damascuses today and rode perhaps the best road ever! No, I mean it this time!

Welcome to Day Eight of the Tail of the Dragon tour.

The morning started with an All American breakfast at the Waffle House in Cherokee, NC . Muzzy and I had the signature bowl: eggs, bacon, hash brown and melted American cheese in a bowl. Meh!

After breakfast, Spike led us on a route that he had designed based entirely on the twistiest roads that he could find on the map. It included the Rattler, NC 209. You know that a road with a nickname like that has to be good!

The Rattler was beyond good! It might actually be the best ever. Or at least I will say the best road so far because we are riding the Back of the Dragon tomorrow, but today might have been the best day of riding ever! I really, really mean it this time.

The Rattler was longer and more fun than the Tail of the Dragon! Different but not equal. I vote for the Rattler as the best road. It has the tight turns like the Tail of the Dragon and long sweepers like the Blue Ridge and sunshine like we haven't seen yet this trip. Plus, we got to see 7 White Tail deer run in the field beside us.

Also, the Rattler has Hot Springs, NC as a terminus and it is the most perfect town ever. The place is small and caters to Appalachian Trail hikers and geriatric motorcyclists. I actually feel young in this crowd. The main street was lined with noisy Harleys and the side street, there just one, was lined with European and Japanese bikes. Hot Springs is way nicer than Deals Gap. It is a real town with shops and restaurants. Ok, I have convinced myself that the Rattler is the best road ever.

Unfortunately, after leaving the perfect town we had to endure the 20 mile long strip mall and traffic light hell that is Johnson City, Tennessee. That is a place to be avoided at all costs in the future.

Luckily, we found our escape from Johnson on Hwy 91 and we were back in the mountain twisties. We were excited to see warning signs for trucks not to use the road because of the steep switchbacks. HWY 91 was an unplanned gem and an amazing find, it also led us to Damascus.

Damascus, VA is another perfect mountain town catering to hikers, mountain bikers and motorcyclists. I can tell you that it is nicer than Damascus, Ontario and by all accounts in better shape than the original. We stopped at the Wicked Chicken Wing House and Tavern for dinner. Cool place with a cool vibe.

After dinner we rode along the absolutely brilliant Jeb Stuart Hwy, 58 East, from Damascus to the Creeper Trail Campsite. On any other trip this would have been the best road. On this trip it is just another brilliant road but not the best. But it is really, really good!

As you can tell, we are having a great time but my words and videos don't come close to describing the exhilaration, the views or the experience that I am having with my BFFs!

Tomorrow we will ride the Back of the Dragon and then Muzzy will head home and Spike and I will head east towards the coast.

I love you all.

Good night from the top of some beautiful mountain, somewhere in south western Virginia.

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