Deal's Gap (AKA "The Dragon" or "Tail of the Dragon") - By Stinky

Yes, Tail of the Dragon, what an adventure this was ... the Tennessee valleys and rivers, the dams, the whisps of smoke coming from the stills ... (stills), and turns .. twisties defined, maybe it was actually work having to concentrate this much when I wanted to be gazing into the hills and valleys, maybe 2nd and 3rd gears aren't my favorite, but I absolutely loved the entire ride .. and it was over way too fast. The crazy story was the adventure we had getting to the starting line known as Deal's Gap. Somehow we didn't get out of Chattanooga until late afternoon and found the Cherohala with the sun late in the sky. It passed through my mind that we'd probably only be an hour or so in the dark by the time we rolled into Deals Gap. Turns out the Skyway was an incredible ride in 4th/5th gear with an almost perfect cadence, HOWEVER somewhere deep into the forest, the GPS signal dropped out while I was dreamily riding along in a perfect world and when I realized it the route had obviously changed into some Indian Boundary but there was a beautiful lake to gaze upon while I hid my panic from my buddies. We backtracked a handful of miles, found 168 and continued. The last hour before Robbinsville (hoping to see Jim Tom) was pitch black and the turns got tighter and tighter while my lights got dimmer and dimmer. When we rolled into Robbinsville, I figured Deals Gap was only a hop, skip and jump away and we could get something to eat at the hotel ... Well, it took forever to find Tapoco and that last turn across the bridge and up the hill had me convinced that I was about to fall off the edge of the earth .. then I crested the hill, smelled smoke from the campfire and saw the small (but beautiful) Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort (which closes at sunset .. no dinner for my crew). After Granola bars, Crown, campfire stories, a cold shower and short night's sleep, we got a hearty breakfast and set out to conquer the Tail of the Dragon. I live to ride and ride to live.