Deals Gap

by Valerie
(Richmond Virginia)

I am sure many of you have ridden the Dragon - I received my license in March of 2009 and for the first 6 months I felt like I was in no way ready to ride alone or with a group of people. While I passed my class with top grades, my inner confidence was not where it needed to be in my own mind. For 6 months my boyfriend and I would take a short ride every weekend with me following, then he would switch it up and let me lead for a while. At the end of each ride he would sit me down and tell me what I had done incorrectly or what he thought might make things easier for me. After those 6 months, I was ready to try it myself, slowly getting used to riding to work or taking the bike to the store by myself, just working on my comfort level.
In May 2010 we rode from Northern Virginia to Maggie Valley - where we decided to ride route 215 (near the Dragon) - by the time we got to the top of the mountain I was shaking and trembling from all of the tight curves and switchbacks. My boyfriend patiently listened to me describe my fears and let me calm down, then he explained that the road was in good shape, had solid guard rails, no traffic and I could ride at whatever speed I wanted. So I calmed down and we decended the mountain and I was fine.
The next day we traveled to Deals Gap (I was extremely nervous having heard all of the dangers) and he assured me I had nothing to worry about, he just told me to do it at my pace.
We arrived at the Dragon about 1:00 PM on a Monday afternoon and as normal, it started to POUR down with rain. I mean normal because wherever it is that we decide to go, we generally get a bunch of rain and get a wet arse.
Anyhow, we rode it...in the pouring rain, so hard I had to remove my glasses to prevent the fogging and dealt with mascara running in my eyes and burning like fire. But I DID it, I rode the Dragon, TWICE in the pouring down rain. And you know what? It was NOTHING compared to route 215.......all that worry for nothing!
Since then, we have put almost 16,000 miles on my bike and we have been to Myrtle Beach Bike Week, Daytona Bike Week, Gettysburg Bike Week and the East Coast Rally several times.
I would not trade my throttle time for anything except for my loved ones. The plates on my bike say it all....BNAWTY.