My wife and I got our camping gear together, packed the bike and met everyone in Plainfield. There were 9 bikes going and we all camped that night in the Smokies. The next day we went to Deal's Gap, which is the proper name, and stopped on an overlook just before starting down the pass. Earlier I had decided that I would fall to the back so I wouldn't hold anyone up that wanted to hit the turns hard, but unfortunately I had no idea we were already at the "Dragon's Tail" and I was about to start down the pass…..in the middle of the pack.

I was riding quite well in the pass and after about the second hairpin or 20 seconds into the ride, I turned to my wife and said, "I think we're in the gap right now honey." I stayed focused on the bike ahead of me and tried not to slow down the rider behind me. As we rode down the mountain, I was painfully aware that my 9ft long Indian with large saddle bags and the extra pack I neglected to leave at the campground were not exactly made for this type of riding. Of course the occasional scrape of my exhaust mounts reminded me as well.

Arriving safely at the foot of the pass was a mixture of jubilation and relief. I no sooner had gotten off my bike than one of our riders came up to shake my hand. He was riding a much leaner sportster and said to me, "Man, I gotta shake your hand. I don't know how you were able to take the big thing through those turns like that but it was all I could do to keep up with you. I was right behind you and I can tell you one thing, you sure can ride that big b----."