Summer Vacation Part Two: Deals Gap
Welcome back everyone!
While navigating through the jam-packed parking lots this morning, I couldn’t help but think about how quickly summer came and went. I feel like I was barely able to squeeze in all my summer plans just in time to come back to reality.
As you may have read in my previous blog, Summer Vacation Part One: Chi-town, I planned two back-to-back trips to wrap up my summer and give me a fresh attitude to start the new semester.
A few days after I returned from Chicago, it was time to travel to North Carolina with one of my good friends for a weekend of motorcycle riding. The destination was Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort, AKA The Dragon.
Just a few of the 365 turns
Here are a few things I found out about this infamous road visited by car/bike enthusiasts from all over the world:
- The Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort is located at the south end of the famous Dragon, home to 318 turns in 11 miles of scenic and twisty US 129.
- With no distractions, the Dragon winds its way up and over the mountains of Tennessee into North Carolina and is the gateway for all NC has to offer.
- Multiple car commercials have been filmed on this stretch of road.
Friday afternoon after my friend got off work, we loaded both our motorcycles in his truck and prepared for the 10-hour ride to the Gap. Surprisingly, time went by pretty fast for most of the trip until we hit a traffic jam about two hours into Kentucky. By making friends with a Walmart truck driver and his CB radio, we were informed that there was an accident about two miles up that would end up putting us 2 hours behind schedule. Around 3 a.m. we arrived at Deals Gap Resort.
Killing time during our traffic jam
Although we were both exhausted from the trip, it was apparent that our excitement would keep us from some much-needed sleep. Instead of sleeping, we stayed up and learned a few more things about the Gap from three drunken Canadian campers:
<!–[if !supportLists]–>- <!–[endif]–>For the first five days of the week, the Dragon had already seen 10 crashes and five deaths.
<!–[if !supportLists]–>- <!–[endif]–>ALWAYS, ALWAYS ride within your limitations.
Parts gathered and dedicated from years of accidents/deaths on the Gap
The next two days included nothing but 2-3 hour rides, food and sleep. At night, all the most daring riders went out for rides (which is extremely dangerous because of limited vision) and the rest of the community hung out telling stories about their years of riding. Some of these storytellers spent more time drinking than anything else, causing a few interesting “incidents.”
Our checkout on Sunday seemed to come way too fast and it was time to leave our motor-sport paradise and head back to the real world!
August 26th, 2009at 1:27 pm
I was just there and I rode the dragon too! Good times!
August 26th, 2009at 1:37 pm
It definitively was an experience! When did you go?
August 26th, 2009at 2:38 pm
We stayed in Gatlinburg – I was down there on the 21st and 22nd of august. I have a yamaha R6 and rode through the tail twice – it was crazy knowing how close the road winds up and down next to drop offs and cliffs.
August 27th, 2009at 9:59 am
That is pretty crazy, Jamie. We stayed at the Gap the weekend before you did. I wouldn’t be completely honest if I said I didn’t have a few close calls that weekend!
September 8th, 2009at 2:09 pm
great adventure!
November 5th, 2009at 4:20 am
web site is good enough and interesting