The Horn of the Cow

Something I completely forgot to mention in my post about the motorcycle show is the presence of tourism folks. Whether it’s local(ish) public entities or private tour companies, anyone who has ideas on cool rides and/or destinations is welcome.

There was one group there with several interesting maps that made their way home with me. It may have been more than one group. I’m pretty sure the booth was shared by several entities. I don’t remember the NAME of the booth, but do have a couple of brochures from them that I can tell you about.

The Wytheville [Virginia] Convention & Visitor’s Bureau has put together a Motorcycle Trails guide, which features five “trails” (defined road routes) for folks to enjoy. I’ll bet you can guess which of the five piques my interest most. LOL.

The Wytheville-area trails are:

• The Claw of the Dragon
• Possum Run
• The Wooly Mammoth
• Turkey Strut
• Horn of the Cow

If you click on the image of the brochure shown on the right, you’ll be taken to the order form. The guide is free. And inside of the guide you’ll find a map and short description of each ride as well as a larger overview map, which includes all five trails, so you can string two or more together.

Hubby and I are fortunate in that we both ride. If you’re not part of a riding couple and don’t want to go alone, I’ll bet you can find a friend that would accompany you. The area covered in the brochure is in Southwest Virginia, so it wouldn’t exactly be a day trip from here. But Hubby and I are determined to have some riding weekends this year. You know, where we actually have consecutive days of riding and stay overnight. We both miss that.

Folks from Back of the Dragon were also present (or at least their info was being shared) at the booth. As their website states, BackoftheDragon.com is…

“A website dedicated to promoting the unmatched beauty and riding enjoyment provided by VA Route 16, the two lane ribbon over the three mountains between Tazewell and Marion, Virginia.”

Most riders have heard of “The Dragon,” which has officially been dubbed the Tail of the Dragon, an 11-mile stretch of US-129 crossing Deals Gap at the Tennessee/North Carolina state line.

There are 318 curves within those 11 miles. Some are easy, many are not.

It’s one of those must-ride roads. But it isn’t without its dangers. The Travel Channel actually has an awesome Dragon video you should watch, if you haven’t already.

Back of the Dragon is a take on that. It’s closer to us than the Wytheville trails, but we still haven’t ridden it. Yet. But we’re really hoping to make it down that way in 2014.

Have you ridden the Back of the Dragon? Is it as good as they claim it to be?

I’d love to know what you think.