Motorcycle Adventure 2013 -- Part 1: Tree of Shame - Deals Gap, NC

Just back from 6-day trip to the Tail of the Dragon, Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive.  1,763 miles and 629 photos later, back home.  Will post some of my photos over the next week or two.

Let's start with the famous (or infamous) Tree of Shame.  It grows in Deals Gap, NC at the bottom of the Tail of the Dragon.  It is covered with parts of motorcycles that didn't quite make it unscathed through the Dragon's 318 turns.

Tree of Shame:  No Gain and a Lot of Pain

Tree of Shame keeps adding to its bounty

Sticker on bike part on Tree of Shame

Irony? Surviving the Dragon only to get hit 

by a motorcycle part falling from the Tree

Tree of Shame: Detail

Tree of Shame: Detail

Brad Martin memorializes his bad luck on the Dragon

Me and riding buddy Steve Winters after taming the Dragon

For those whose parts are on the Tree (in background), 

this work area comes too late