2007 MOTORCYCLE TOUR

Saturday June 16

Daily Miles: 225
Accumulated Miles: 5,425
Day 24

PHOTOS ARE THUMBNAILS - CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE LARGE PHOTO

Commerce, Georgia to Maryville, Tennessee

Deals Gap (aka Tail of the Dragon) was the only reason I went to Maryville. It is the most famous motorcycle road in the US. Located on route 129, this road is through the mountains that is the border North Carolina and Tennessee. This section is 11 miles long and has 318 turns. Met John at a burger place. He is from Tennessee and rides the Gap several times a year. I was not quite sure where the Deals Gap was, so he gave me his maps and outlined where I should go. Nice guy.

John from Knoxville, TN
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On the way to the Gap, John suggested I take a photo of this dam. It is the actual dam that was used in the opening scene of the Fugitive. This is the dam Harrison Ford jumped from to escape.

Dam used in opening scene from Fugitive
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The young, of both genders, take their sport bikes and travel back and forth on this section of road. The goal - travel the 11 miles as fast as possible. I know those of you who don’t ride can’t relate to this activity, but I just loved being around this spectacle. The sound of those highly tuned engines running at 10M to 15M rpm, what a rush. Apparently the police only show up when they get a series of motorist complaints. On any given weekend there are 200 – 300 motorcycles waiting to take there turn going through the turns. When I moved off, I was nervous, but I got through the 11 miles (it was not pretty) and now have the bragging rights to say “I road the Dragon.” To learn more go to:

www.tailofthedragon.com

Images of the day
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This kid has about $40,000 invested in this custom motorcycle
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Warming up the tires
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The entry point
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Deals Gap summit
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Princes Motel

The motel was very old and so was the owner. At least it was a place to sleep. Five riders from Ontario Canada were also staying there. I had a beer with them and then returned to my room. They were into the beer before I got there and were still at it 4 hours later. At least the had the sense to take a cab when going for dinner. My guess is they may have suffering the next day. They were heading for Deals Gap, can’t image doing that road with a hangover.

Tomorrow heading north toward the Smokey Mountains.