Dream ride: Slaying the Dragon

When you think of classic American motorcycle roads, Route 66 and the Pacific Coast Highway spring to mind. But there is another must-ride route, more famed for the challenge it presents than any historical importance or scenery:
the Tail of the Dragon.

Otherwise known as US129 or the Deals Gap road, this mountain pass runs along the North Carolina/Tennessee state line and is bordered by the Great Smokey Mountains and the Cherokee National Forest.

The road started as a track used only by animals and hunters. In the late 1700s Deals Trading Post was established by a family of that name, who did business with Cherokee and other friendly tribes, and it is because of them that the
road is now known as Deals Gap.

Legend says that in the 1830s a group of Cherokee used the trail to avoid removal to land west of the Mississippi along what became known as the ‘Trail of Tears’…