Deal's Gap - Sept.8-10th 2007, Tail of the Dragon

Day 8 - Chicago, IL to Lexington, KY

Time & distance: 9 hrs. 11 mins, 687 kms

States crossed: Indiana

After a couple days of playing tourist, we set our GPS towards Kentucky via Indiana. But first, we had to work our way through the commute and a myriad of tolls before the Chicago metropolis would let go of it's hold.

The plan was to super-slab it and get through most of Indiana & Kentucky as much as possible. We hit some scattered rain along the way and breaked at a Waffle House in Frankfort for dinner. This was actually our first time in the supposedly famous Waffle chain. We experienced great southern hospitality from our server Tanya Taylor. She had a real liking towards Mark and he even got a personally autographed souvenir server cap to take home with him. She was a fine southern belle and with a name like that, should at least have an honorary photo in the next issue of Maxim.

Michael was exhausted and snoozed through most of the excitement, so we decided to settle in at the next town; Lexington.

Day 9 - Lexington, KY to Robinsville, NC
Time & distance: 13 hrs. 17 mins, 716 kms
States crossed: Kentucky, Tenessee
We continued on our way in the morning and it wasn't before long that we arrived at Robbinsville. The plan was to check in, drop our bags, and go exploring! We rode through Deal's Gap on our way in and could not pass a turtle if we tried. A parade of Harleys greeted us and to make it worst, there were State Troopers posted almost on every corner.

It was indeed a very nice piece of road, but sadly spoiled by all the traffic and cops. We decided that the only way to really enjoy it was to do it Monday morning at 7:00 in the morning.

We checked in to the Microtel in Robbinsville. There wasn't much choice in such a small town and they were the only one with internet. The Concierge explained why there are so many cops; apparently earlier in the season, there were three fatal accidents in a stretch of 24 hours. The State then allowed a big budget to crack down on the riders. In the beginning they were giving out really stupid tickets, like for tinted visors. I guess now, they are only looking at reckless driving/riding and zero tolerance speeding.

Once we unloaded our bags and grabbed some quick lunch, we decided ride the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of the many recommended roads in the are. It was mostly 45 miles sweepers with a few 20 mile hairpins. It had clean pavement and little traffic. The road is very scenic and basically takes you through multiple mountain ranges. The road actually goes on for 596 miles long so needless to say, we were not going to complete it. We were also too pre-occupied with taking photos to get anywhere fast. The mountain backdrop from up top is simply amazing! It has layers beyond layers of mountain in multiple shades of grey. I guess this is why they call it the Smoky Mountains. It was definitely different from the Rockies vista that we have back home. With all the picture taking, we had run out of time. We decided to turn back after the summit and headed back to Deals Gap to see if the State Troopers were still around. We only rode to the Deal's Gap resort before we headed back because it got dark pretty fast.

Day 10 - Robinsville, NC to Bowling Green, KY

Time & distance: 9 hrs. 4 mins, 467 kms.

States crossed: Tennessee

We got up early and headed out at dusk like a bunch of eager boy scouts on the first day of camp. The morning run to Deals Gap definitely paid off. There was no traffic and thank-god no cops! We had an awesome run with speeds to our hearts content. This road (less the traffic) is really what it's cracked up to be. It's non-stop twisties, tightly wound together to give you a ride you would not soon forget!

Let's be clear, this road is definitely not for beginners or even intermediates for that matter. Is is very technical and super twisty (15 mile corners). You've got mountain cliff to one side and rock wall on the other, and very little shoulder. All this mixed together means there's no room for error. It is so much fun connecting the left and right twisties one after another that by the end of it, you'd be shaking like a caffeine high in your tired legs, but still wanting more!

After getting a few rounds of adrenaline fixes, we dropped by the Deals Gap Resort store and chatted up with the locals. Surprisingly I did not see a fraction of the harleys we saw yesterday. All the bikes we saw this morning were sportbikes and they were really enjoying themselves. These must be the locals as they know when is a good time to ride this road.

After doing the mandatory souvenirs thing, we left the store and decided to ride the other "must-do" road around here (Cherohala Skyway) on the way out. Just before getting onto the skyway, our good luck turned for the worst. Stan, who just happily "conquered the Dragon" wiped out going wide after seeing some gravel. Fortunately, it was at low speed and his bike was still ridable. Besides losing one of his hardbags and some scuffs on the right fairing, the bike held up well.

We continued onto Cherohala but did not enjoy it as much as we could have. This road is similar to Blue Ridge where it goes up and down along the mountain tops. It's also very scenic and the roads are a little tighter than Blue Ridge but not as much as Deals Gap. If you are looking for something scenic with some fun twisties, this would be it.

We were hoping to get to St. Louis for the night, but everyone was too tired so decided not to push it and checked in at Bowling Green, Kentucky instead.

We settled in and was still buzzing with the amazing riding we had so far. The three roads we rode were different enough that it offers something for everyone. For me, the best part of riding is the challenge a road gives you and the sense of accomplishment once you've overcome it. I like the technical challenge a good road gives and The Dragon does exactly that!