No Man's Ride - Day 8

Day Eight - Paducah, KY to Sevierville, TN

Jenny headed out solo an hour before the rest of the crew. With plans to meet up with Patty, Rob, and Serena from the AMA by 4:00 PM in Sevierville, she headed out armed with a cell phone and a map. The rest of the group narrowed their collective sights on Deal’s Gap as it is a MAD MUST. Everyone as fresh as if it were Day One, we jumped back in the saddle and rode off toward the morning sun. Several minutes passed and so did the Tennessee border. Day Eight was a many miles sort of day, mostly on freeway. The idea was to rack up fast interstate miles and jump off at Maryville drop down US 129 into Deal’s Gap. Pulled into a scenic overlook, ditched the trailer, doubled up on bikes and did the Dragon! A great big thanks to Rob Pemble from the MAD MAPS crew for the Deal’s Gap Tee’s. At the top the crew posed for some photos and watched as the serious knee-dragging riders approached the landing zone. There was also some time to admire the “Tree of Shame,” a tree atop the Gap decorated with broken bits of bike plastic and gear from those who didn’t make all 318 turns necessary to reach the top. Special kudos go out to Dave Cooper who zipped through the twisties on the beastly Burgman. For the record: Mr. Burgman smoked the rest of the bikes, except for maybe Carla on the V-Strom.

After dealing with The Dragon the group worked their way toward Sevierville through the northwest section of Smoky Mountains National Park. Trees blanket the rolling hills of the Smokies creating a perforated lighting pattern over the road. The sun made its final stretch toward the west leaving the light long and full of color. The road meandered down along the streams path toward Pigeon Forge. Upon entering Pigeon Forge the transformation from quiet open wilderness to an out-of-the-box family playland is disheartening, and sudden.

The MAD crew reconnects with Jenny at the hotel, where she’d already wrangled in the AMA folks and settled them into the hotel. The evening was spent reminiscing details of the journey and realizing the goal was within 200 miles.