The Birth Of A Monster

[AKUDOU]

What is now U.S. 129 has been used as a path for travel and trade since before the United States came into being.

A brief history of the highway, found on the Web site operated by motorcyclists Ron and Nancy Johnson, describes how Native Americans once used the road before it became a path for settlers going to Cades Cove from the Parsons Branch Road. The path for the road was likely chosen because it followed Deal’s Gap, a natural break in the mountains between North Carolina and Tennessee.

In 1934, the road was paved the first time and was designated as U.S. 129. Like many early highways, U.S. 129 curves to and fro, following the natural contours of the land like the foot and horse paths that preceded it. It still maintains that character, with more than 300 curves in just over 11 miles.

But from its first paving until the last decade of the 20th century, it was a sleepy road for locals, little known to the outside world.

That all changed when motorcycle enthusiasts discovered the road in the 1990s.

“Each year since then, the number of motorcycles and sports cars has seemingly doubled,” the Johnsons’ Web site reports. “Today, riders and drivers from across the U.S. and Canada come to run the Dragon.”

The road is still remote — it borders the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on one side, and is mostly surrounded by national forests. The Johnsons note that in 14 miles, only one road — North Carolina Highway 28 — crosses it, and only one building, the Deal’s Gap Motorcycle Resort, also known as the Crossroads of Time, sits along the section through Deal’s Gap.

[MarkB]

It looks like that would be an awesome drive.

[tomc92bb000059]

heading up there next month to ride my scoot. Gotta love having parents in Knoxville, a nice scenic hour ride from the Gap. Been there twice on the bike and twice in the X. Gotta love the tail of the dragon...

[Black Knight]

geez....that looks like a sore leg path to me.....how long does it take to go through that? avg speed? length of path?

awesome...nevertheless...

[tomc92bb000059]

I stay in second gear, on the bike and in the car, and my times were somewhere around a half an hour one way. If no traffic, faster, but I only got lucky like that one time, in the X, with ice on some of the areas. If I recall correctly, the fastest speed on a bike approached 70 mph average, which, if you have been there, seems impossible.

Boy I can't wait....

[1SICKLEX]

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showt...threadid=20268

JOIN US IN SLAYING THE MONSTER August 22-24!!!