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Deals Gap
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Deals Gap and Great Motorcycle Roads - the Dragon My first choice for "great motorcycle roads" is US 129, otherwise known as the "the Dragon," located at the corner of southern Tennessee and northern North Carolina, in a region otherwise known as Deals Gap. This is not a road for the timid, and I would NOT recommend it for a beginning rider.
The Dragon boasts 318 curves in 11 miles and many, many changes in elevation. I rode this road twice in one day, and I must say - it is the ultimate motorcycle road.
Thrilling, exciting, scary - you really need to keep your head up and your eyes on the road ahead. If you don't, you will get dizzy - and - there isn't any place to stop, park and collect yourself.
Don't focus on the sides of the road either, because there are numerous crosses and other stigmata of riders who rode the Dragon foolishly. Yes, people die doing stupid things here.
On a nice spring, summer or fall day, you will be riding with many other vehicles - some 2-wheeled, some with 4-wheels. You might even encounter an RV, which would truly ruin the experience.
On the day we rode the Dragon, there were a few foolish speeders, passing everything in their path, but for the most part, the motorcycles and cars were reasonably trying to ride the road.
My recommendation: If you come across someone who is acting foolhardy, let them pass.
Please remember to use common courtesy rules on a road like theDragon.