wspollack
Well-known member
A week ago today, riding Deals Gap, AKA "Tail of the Dragon" (AKA US Rt. 129), on the mighty C 400 GT, NC side to the TN side (18 min.):
-
Welcome to the BMW Scooter Forums. Member registration disables ads and allows you to post and share. Register Here.
400 at the Gap AKA "Tail of the Dragon" Last Week
- Thread starter wspollack
- Start date
Delray
Well-known member
Interesting. Just watched the whole thing to ride the Tail vicariously. Doubtful I'll ever be near it on two wheels.
I'm biased, but I'll take Route 3 through the Adirondacks any day (photo). Love the long, sweeping curves and spectacular views. I'll be riding east from Rochester NY to New Hampshire and Maine this summer and look forward to mountain riding.
Definitely wasn't crazy about the lack of shoulders I spy on US 129. Spent a few weeks in Alabama last year and was surprised how many roads have no shoulders. Nothing. White line on the edge of the road butts up to ... grass or dirt. That's inviting trouble.
Didn't see any motorcycle parts hanging from the trees, which is part of the legend. If you crash your bike, you leave part of it in a tree. Quick Google search shows 29 deaths on The Tail in the last ten years, 28 from motorcycle accidents.
Website below has info on the Tail of the Dragon with a list of fatalities and reasons why. Looks like a relatively high percentage of trike fatalities and also guys in their 70's -- Bill, glad you lived to "tell the Tail" ;o)
I'm biased, but I'll take Route 3 through the Adirondacks any day (photo). Love the long, sweeping curves and spectacular views. I'll be riding east from Rochester NY to New Hampshire and Maine this summer and look forward to mountain riding.
Definitely wasn't crazy about the lack of shoulders I spy on US 129. Spent a few weeks in Alabama last year and was surprised how many roads have no shoulders. Nothing. White line on the edge of the road butts up to ... grass or dirt. That's inviting trouble.
Didn't see any motorcycle parts hanging from the trees, which is part of the legend. If you crash your bike, you leave part of it in a tree. Quick Google search shows 29 deaths on The Tail in the last ten years, 28 from motorcycle accidents.
Website below has info on the Tail of the Dragon with a list of fatalities and reasons why. Looks like a relatively high percentage of trike fatalities and also guys in their 70's -- Bill, glad you lived to "tell the Tail" ;o)
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #3
wspollack
Well-known member
Some comments on your comments ...
There's just one "Tree of Shame" related to the Gap, not multiple trees. I don't see it in my video, and I didn't stop at the Resort, but as I recall -- I've looked it over, years back -- it's off to the side, on the right somewhere. See https://www.dealsgap.com/about-us/tree-of-shame and https://photocontest.smithsonianmag...of-the-tail-of-the-dragon-at-deals-gap-motor/ , for instance.
The Gap is good for photos. Starting with my '97 R850R in 2000, I think it was, I've ridden through there a number of times. That was before photographers -- most famously, "Killboy" -- started camping out there, but ever since then I like to make a point of visiting my Asheville daughter, and then taking a day off to ride south another two hours, in order to get some pics of me on a new bike. Here's my Gap gallery:
Deals Gap / Tail of the Dragon
billanddot.com
The Gap is highly technical, nicely paved, and a very good ride (and, yep, has those photographers). But it's certainly not the most fun I've ever had on a bike, although it is a good testing ground for handling, for both cars and bikes. And as the article you cited points out, there are plenty of fatalities in the region that have nothing to do with the Gap, some that are misattributed to the Gap but did not occur there, etc.
I am reminded of the Alps, and in particular Stelvio pass, which I've now done twice (once in miserable weather, and once, four years later, in beautiful weather), and where there are also often photographers. The 48-hairpin side is a fine test of switchback-riding skills, and was enjoyable, or at least challenging, for that aspect, but was certainly not the most fun I had on either of those trips. You can find the up-side video of that latter ride in the "Day 1" videos at https://www.billanddot.com/Ultimate-Alps-Tour/ , but I had much more fun on subsequent days, particularly, for instance, the Susten and Furka passes (in the "Day 3" videos).
Similarly, the Smoky mountains in that region are full of more interesting roads, all of which are longer, and most of which are full of gobs of enjoyable twisties ... if not so jam-packed, one after another. I have videos of all of those, too, and I'll probably get around to putting some chunks of them on YT, too. Just getting from Asheville to Robbinsville is worth the ride, particularly NC Rt. 28 (which eventually passes by Fontana Village, where my wife and I, and another daughter, and a couple of grandkids stayed a few years ago).
I've ridden in much of the Adirondacks, and have some rides there this year excerpted in my Meteor gallery (https://billanddot.com/Meteor350/), and some older and different Adirondack highlight reels in my C 400 gallery (). Certainly fun stull, but, well, as for me, I'll take northern GA / eastern TN / western NC over that any day.
Last edited:
Delray
Well-known member
Thanks for the clarification on the tree. Pretty anti-climactic in the photos.
I agree that the mountains around Asheville and the Smokies in eastern TN are as good as it gets. I have an emotional factor in preferring the Adirondacks. It feels like home. My home state. If I live 1,000 years I will never feel that way about Florida.
300 miles west of Nashville is a road I would dearly love to ride, the Natchez Trace Parkway. I learned about it writing a tourism website for Lawrenceburg TN. "The Trace" has been a travel route for over 10,000 years. Today it's part of the National Park Service. It has 444 miles of limited access, little traffic and peaceful vistas.
Natchez Trace Parkway (U.S. National Park Service)
The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile recreational road and scenic drive through three states. It roughly follows the
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #5
wspollack
Well-known member
Yeah, you know the bragging going on, regarding the Gap: "318 Turns in 11 Miles"? I've seen T-shirts on Floridians with "Florida: 11 Turns in 318 Miles." (And I forgot to emphasize that the Gap has no driveways, no houses, no stores, and no cross streets for its 11-mile run, which is nice -- all you have to watch out for are critters and the occasional bike, car, or truck crossing the double-yellow.)Thanks for the clarification on the tree. Pretty anti-climactic in the photos.
I agree that the mountains around Asheville and the Smokies in eastern TN are as good as it gets. I have an emotional factor in preferring the Adirondacks. It feels like home. My home state. If I live 1,000 years I will never feel that way about Florida.
300 miles west of Nashville is a road I would dearly love to ride, the Natchez Trace Parkway. I learned about it writing a tourism website for Lawrenceburg TN. "The Trace" has been a travel route for over 10,000 years. Today it's part of the National Park Service. It has 444 miles of limited access, little traffic and peaceful vistas.
Natchez Trace Parkway (U.S. National Park Service)
The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile recreational road and scenic drive through three states. It roughly follows thewww.nps.gov
In 2000, my wife (pillion) and I rode the R850R from Albany to Houston (and back), taking, as I recall, four days each way. We went through the Gap, and also stayed overnight in NOLA (where we've since returned, via planes, several times) on the way down.
I mention this because in between those two points we DID do the Natchez Trace. Well, some hours on it, anyway. Maybe we should've stuck it out, but before that day was done we decided that the quality of its scenery and curves was so-so, and thus didn't warrant its low speed-limit. So we didn't pursue its full length, instead opting to get off and boogie elsewhere.
So, be careful how much stock you put in some write-ups. The NPS also runs the Skyline Drive, which winds its way in VA until, at its southern terminus 100 miles later, it bumps into the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I've done the Skyline twice now, and it's nice, but the same sort of criticisms apply ... IMHO.
Me, my favorites are easily those two solo Alps trips I took (and Edelweiss' Best of Europe and the Tuscany scooter tours, both two-up with my wife, are right up there, too). So my advice is to listen to fellow riders whom you trust or can empathize with, via personal conversations or articles in dedicated moto mags.
Delray
Well-known member
That's funny. In Florida, "318 stop lights in 11 miles" also captures the feeling of riding here, in some spots.
Google shows the speed limit for Natchez Trace Parkway as 50 mph. Assuming 60 mph is permissible, I'd love that. It's my sweet spot. I'm a fan of sweeping curves and gently undulating elevations, been a cruiser-style rider since I climbed aboard my first two-wheeler at 19. Kick back, stretch the legs out, relax and enjoy the ride.
The constant turns and hairpins of the Dragon would annoy me. Once drove a rental car north from San Francisco to a meeting in the Napa Valley. I chose California 1 for my route. It hugs the Pacific coast for hundreds of miles with soaring postcard views of the ocean. Within half an hour I regretted that decision. It was constant stop and go, jerkier than a fidgety NYC taxi driver. Drive 25 mph for 100 yards, brake down to 5 mph for a hairpin turn on a cliff that drops 100 feet straight down into rocks. Death lurks on every corner. Unfortunately, because there were no east-west roads that would return me to Highway 101 for normal driving, I was stuck on Hairpin Death Highway for hours.
Your advice to seek personal experience in research is always wise. In my business, advertising, "word of mouth" has been the most effective selling tool for 100+ years -- it probably still is, with social media expanding it from a friend's recommendations to someone's favorite Influencers.