- 24,553
- Frankfort, KY
- GTP_FoolKiller
- FoolKiller1979
It's just a Rabbit.
This past weekend we went to Gatlinburg, TN with my brother and his family. On Saturday, November 14th, the women went shopping at the outlet malls and I planned on going to tackle US 129, The Dragon.
This was the first time I had my Rabbit in Gatlinburg and wanted to take it out on a road that I could enjoy.
I need to set this up as something occurs in the video that is a bit disturbing. On the way there we first passed through a town called Townsend on highway 321. While there I see a guy on a blue motorcycle getting a ticket from the police while his friend sat by himself down a bit on his red bike waiting. I thought it was odd that a duo would be riding together and only one would get a ticket for something. I figured he must have been doing something stupid.
Later we have to cut across on the Foothills Parkway. This is a scenic road with a 45mph speed limit. I get caught behind an Impala driving under the limit, but due to the nature of the road there is very little passing opportunity. That is when the pair of bikers comes up behind me fast. The blue bike is constantly right on my bumper and dropping back before turns to whip around and slam on his brakes to avoid hitting me. The red bike hangs back a couple of car lengths. At this point I understand why one got a ticket and the other didn't.
Then as we turn on to 129 the Impala goes down a side road and I have nothing but open road in front of me. I open it up a bit thinking the biker would be right on me, but he stays back. At this point I think that maybe he is cautious of the dragon itself. As my brother sets up the camera we begin to head into the switchbacks and that is when the video starts, with the blue bike coming right up on me again, so close that I can barely see anything below his headlight. I was not the fastest guy out there, and as you can see I move off the road twice to let others go by. I did everything I could to be courteous and safe. That is why I have no sympathy for the biker in the video.
Anyway, here is the video of me heading south on US 129, The Dragon. It is split into two parts due to You Tube length limits.
Part 1 - minor language warning, as my brother drops a barely audible, but deserved, S-bomb
Part 2
Wee, that was fun! By the way, my stereo wasn't that loud, but the camera was right next to the front right speaker. As for the biker, he was fine, but his bike was in bad shape. The support struts that connect to the front wheel were bent and one of his indicators was hanging by a wire. I never saw him again, so I assume he didn't try to finish.
So, after the run we stopped at the Tail of the Dragon gift shop.
It was nice and I got to talking to the guy running it. When I told him about the guy on the bike he immediately said, "Sport Bike? Figures." Before I left I bought a small 60's style road sign design sticker to mark my car with.
From there we headed down to Cheoah Dam, also known as Fugitive Dam, as that is where they filmed part of The Fugitive, apparently.
It had been raining a lot recently, causing mud slides in some areas, so the lake was right at the top of the dam.
After that little stop off it was time to head back north on The Dragon. This time my brother used his digital camera to film a time laps movie. This run worked out very well because I had no traffic issues until I was out of the switchbacks.
From there we headed back, but decided to stop off for some sightseeing shots on the Foothills Parkway.
They call them the Smoky Mountains for a reason.
As you can tell from that last picture, it isn't all mountains around the Foothills Parkway. That is because it rides along the top of a narrow ridge that borders the mountains.
Smoky Mountains
Civilization
Before now I had always paid to ride go karts in Gatlinburg/Pigeon forge. Obviously, that is out of the question now. This only cost 150 miles on my car. Considering I filled up with gas in advance, about $35. Go karts range anywhere from $8-$15 depending on the course and type of karts, and it only lasts for five minutes or less. It would cost hundreds to drive 22 miles on them, be less fun, and have less scenery.
And there were a few professional photographers out there that day too I am seriously contemplating buying a 10 megapixel version of this from them.
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/Orderpage.aspx?pi=04RK012W040982&po=982&pc=1573
Their site is a good source of car pron too.
This past weekend we went to Gatlinburg, TN with my brother and his family. On Saturday, November 14th, the women went shopping at the outlet malls and I planned on going to tackle US 129, The Dragon.
This was the first time I had my Rabbit in Gatlinburg and wanted to take it out on a road that I could enjoy.
I need to set this up as something occurs in the video that is a bit disturbing. On the way there we first passed through a town called Townsend on highway 321. While there I see a guy on a blue motorcycle getting a ticket from the police while his friend sat by himself down a bit on his red bike waiting. I thought it was odd that a duo would be riding together and only one would get a ticket for something. I figured he must have been doing something stupid.
Later we have to cut across on the Foothills Parkway. This is a scenic road with a 45mph speed limit. I get caught behind an Impala driving under the limit, but due to the nature of the road there is very little passing opportunity. That is when the pair of bikers comes up behind me fast. The blue bike is constantly right on my bumper and dropping back before turns to whip around and slam on his brakes to avoid hitting me. The red bike hangs back a couple of car lengths. At this point I understand why one got a ticket and the other didn't.
Then as we turn on to 129 the Impala goes down a side road and I have nothing but open road in front of me. I open it up a bit thinking the biker would be right on me, but he stays back. At this point I think that maybe he is cautious of the dragon itself. As my brother sets up the camera we begin to head into the switchbacks and that is when the video starts, with the blue bike coming right up on me again, so close that I can barely see anything below his headlight. I was not the fastest guy out there, and as you can see I move off the road twice to let others go by. I did everything I could to be courteous and safe. That is why I have no sympathy for the biker in the video.
Anyway, here is the video of me heading south on US 129, The Dragon. It is split into two parts due to You Tube length limits.
Part 1 - minor language warning, as my brother drops a barely audible, but deserved, S-bomb
Part 2
Wee, that was fun! By the way, my stereo wasn't that loud, but the camera was right next to the front right speaker. As for the biker, he was fine, but his bike was in bad shape. The support struts that connect to the front wheel were bent and one of his indicators was hanging by a wire. I never saw him again, so I assume he didn't try to finish.
So, after the run we stopped at the Tail of the Dragon gift shop.
It was nice and I got to talking to the guy running it. When I told him about the guy on the bike he immediately said, "Sport Bike? Figures." Before I left I bought a small 60's style road sign design sticker to mark my car with.
From there we headed down to Cheoah Dam, also known as Fugitive Dam, as that is where they filmed part of The Fugitive, apparently.
It had been raining a lot recently, causing mud slides in some areas, so the lake was right at the top of the dam.
After that little stop off it was time to head back north on The Dragon. This time my brother used his digital camera to film a time laps movie. This run worked out very well because I had no traffic issues until I was out of the switchbacks.
From there we headed back, but decided to stop off for some sightseeing shots on the Foothills Parkway.
They call them the Smoky Mountains for a reason.
As you can tell from that last picture, it isn't all mountains around the Foothills Parkway. That is because it rides along the top of a narrow ridge that borders the mountains.
Smoky Mountains
Civilization
Before now I had always paid to ride go karts in Gatlinburg/Pigeon forge. Obviously, that is out of the question now. This only cost 150 miles on my car. Considering I filled up with gas in advance, about $35. Go karts range anywhere from $8-$15 depending on the course and type of karts, and it only lasts for five minutes or less. It would cost hundreds to drive 22 miles on them, be less fun, and have less scenery.
And there were a few professional photographers out there that day too I am seriously contemplating buying a 10 megapixel version of this from them.
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/Orderpage.aspx?pi=04RK012W040982&po=982&pc=1573
Their site is a good source of car pron too.
Had to raise a big thumbs up when I heard Alice In Chains come over your radio. 
:tup: Love the pics also (funny my road out here's right by a man-made lake/dam and water treatment plant.
