Bitten by The Tail of the Dragon

Last night I've read the story of a biker on a Harley Davidson motorcycle that went down riding the Tail of the Dragon. He spent three weeks in the hospital after completing several surgeries. 

In 2018, I rode 11 hours on my bike from Philly to get to Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort in North Carolina. During preparations for the trip to the motorcycle resort, I remember thinking that I needed to be extra careful riding Tail of the Dragon to avoid getting into an accident. I felt the need to make sure my bike was in one piece, so she could take me home at the end of the week. 

The same day I arrived at the motorcycle resort, a kid from Canada unloaded a motorcycle from his pick-up truck. Less than ten minutes later crashed his bike in one of the 318 curves that are notorious for accidents if riders are not careful. 

An average of 1.5 to 4 riders die annually on the Tail of the Dragon. I tried my darndest not to become part of the Deals Gap statistics.

One Of My Most Cherished Photos From The Trip

Several years ago, I was planning to spend a week at Tail of the Dragon motorcycle resort in North Carolina. To make a long story short, before the trip I began searching for places to photograph in the area. Not quite sure how I found this abandoned vintage gas station during one of the searches. I figured that with a little creativity it would make an interesting photograph to shoot the one century old gas station next to my modern Kawasaki Ninja.

The old gas station in Luck, North Carolina, is the historic Pink J. Plemmons Groceries & Feeds, located on NC-209 ("The Rattler") in Madison County. Once served as the town's post office. Built around 1902, this now-defunct landmark features iconic, rusting 1950s-era gas pumps and a vintage sign, making it a popular, frozen-in-time spot for photographers and travelers.

From the motorcycle resort to the old gas station is roughly a little over 4 hours roundtrip, covering about 230 miles. So, a couple of days before I had to return to Philly, I decided to visit the location. It was quite an adventure to find the old gas station, out in the middle of nowhere. All in all, it was worth it, and one of my most cherished photos from the trip. 

Showcase : Printing Your Legacy

Now that I started to print big posters of my favorite images, I am all excited about the possibilities of decorating my man cave and also my office with them.

As I mentioned on a previous post, the image I recently found from my trip to the Dragon of the Cheoah Dam is my favorite. I like this picture so much that this week I decided to spend some time working on it to make it as big as possible without losing quality.

I had to crop the image a lot, to improve the way it looks. Cropping always involves cutting away part of the original image, results in some of the pixels being discarded and can change the width to height ratio.

Therefore, I was very careful making changes and editing the image. Learned recently that if I resize a photo for printing the photo may get soft and may need more sharpening. Also that is a good idea to save sharpening until the very last task, after I've applied other edits and resize the photo to its final size.

After the final edit, I sent online the 20" x 30" poster size to be printed. The original size image is 4928 x 3264 pixels, it is heavily cropped to remove unwanted areas to 3374 x 1847 pixels. This 20" x 30" poster will be used in my office as well as my man cave. The image was taken using my Nikon D7000 and a Nikon AF-S DX VR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED lens.

In anticipation of picking up the poster today, I stopped at A.C. Moore Arts and Crafts supply store to find a 20" x 30" poster frame. A.C. Moore has a large variety of various frame sizes at reasonable prices.

The poster looks fantastic, superbly printed. To say I was amazed at the poster quality is an understatement, it looks very professional. The time and hard work I spent editing the image paid off in the end.

As the old Epson printer ad used to say, "a print ensures your story will continue".

HERE is a link to my first ever 16" x 20" poster size image. 

You're Never Too Old To Have Fun!

Not sure how I missed this image when I edited photos from my camera memory card of last year Deals Gap, Tail of the Dragon trip. Found it last night while looking for another photo. Of all the pictures I took from the Cheoah Dam in North Carolina, this image is now my favorite. To see a bigger version of this picture click HERE. 

I like having some of my favorite pictures to decorate my office; they include some of my motorcycle images.

A group of people came to my office after I finished running the support group today and noticed the motorcycle pictures decorating my office walls.

They were surprised I ride and wear leather racing gear. At the clinic they've only known me always wearing a business suit and ties. They told me that never in a million years they would've imagined me riding a sport bike at my age. I laughed when I heard them say that, I am only 63 years old.

Have you ever been told you are too old to ride a motorcycle?

Since I purchased my 1972 Kawasaki 750 two-stroke triple in the early 70's, always owned sportbikes. From their aesthetics to the combination of speed and raw power there's plenty to love about fast motorcycles. Riding a sportbike is an exhilarating experience. Not to mention the mental health benefits I gain by riding my bike; I always tell people that riding helps me to de-stress.

The day I purchased my current motorcycle I took it to the garage and a neighborhood kid no older than 6 years old approached me to admire it. He asked the usual inquisitive question, "how fast does it go?". After I told him, he gave me a bewildered look and keeping a straight face said "you're too old for your bike".

Kids say the darndest things.

Kofla Olivieri Rides The Tail of the Dragon

Deal’s Gap (aka the Tail of the Dragon) is without question one of the finest roads in the US. It is located in the beautiful Smoky Mountains at the Tennessee/North Carolina border where US 129 intersects NC 28. 318 turns in 11 miles.

Riding the Dragon is a lot of fun. Riding it fast is a challenge which brings motorcycle enthusiasts from all over the world to try their skills against it. Crashes are common on every given weekend (as the Tree of Shame can attest) and more than a few have lost their lives while trying to challenge it.

Have you been to Deals Gap and ridden the Tail of the Dragon? The Dragon has been on my bucket list for a while, I didn't think it would happen so soon. Last year a group of friends from the Philadelphia area invited me to spend a week with them at Deals Gap.

I figured I was more than due for a vacation, so why not ride my bike to the Dragon, hang out with my Philly friends and relax while exploring the area. I wasn't yet sold on the idea of riding solo to the resort, but decided to make the reservation anyway. I expected the round trip to be over 1,500 hundred miles.