Yikes....crash on the Dragon!
07-28-2010, 05:51 PM
#1
Team Owner
Thread Starter
Yikes....crash on the Dragon!
Well, fortunately it wasn't me, but just barely. I've been staying on Lake Santeetlah for a couple of days on my way north to NH. I drove over the Dragon this morning on my way into the Smokey Mts. National Park for the day.
About half-way thru I met a crotch rocket from the opposite direction in the middle of an "S". I don't know how fast he was going, but he was dragging his knee entering the turn I was starting to exit, and of course he was on the outside of the turn leaning toward me. All of a sudden I saw his front wheel start to wobble, and all hell broke loose. Next thing I know there is a biker and a bike tumbling down the road toward me.
I had barely a split second to decide what to do, so I hammered it to try and get by before they crossed into my lane. I saw them cross the line just barely behind me. Needless to say, that got the adrenilin pumping.
I was lucky to find a spot to safely pull over within about 100 yards of the crash, and just barely waved off a car speeding towards him. His bike was a mess, and he looked pretty dazed, but claimed he was alright. He asked to have one of the photographers down the road call for help. All in all, an exciting start to the day.
About half-way thru I met a crotch rocket from the opposite direction in the middle of an "S". I don't know how fast he was going, but he was dragging his knee entering the turn I was starting to exit, and of course he was on the outside of the turn leaning toward me. All of a sudden I saw his front wheel start to wobble, and all hell broke loose. Next thing I know there is a biker and a bike tumbling down the road toward me.
I had barely a split second to decide what to do, so I hammered it to try and get by before they crossed into my lane. I saw them cross the line just barely behind me. Needless to say, that got the adrenilin pumping.I was lucky to find a spot to safely pull over within about 100 yards of the crash, and just barely waved off a car speeding towards him. His bike was a mess, and he looked pretty dazed, but claimed he was alright. He asked to have one of the photographers down the road call for help. All in all, an exciting start to the day.
07-28-2010, 06:37 PM
#5
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Sep 2008
Location: Stafford VA, home of our wolf den. No house break ins to date.
Posts: 8,022
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes
on
6 Posts
good job, having ridden a sport bike for many years, acceleration can be your best friend for sure.. ! glad everyone is ok.
07-28-2010, 08:43 PM
#11
Team Owner
Thread Starter
The problem this morning was just the luck of the draw. There was practically no traffic, and then this comes along. He was on his side of the road, but just lost it. Based on the lean of his bike, he was just plain going too fast for that outside turn.
07-28-2010, 08:59 PM
#13
Racer
I've been over the road a few times, and a lot of the bikers are just out of control. A lot of them have no concept of what side of the road they are supposed to drive on. That is really bad given all the blind turns.
The problem this morning was just the luck of the draw. There was practically no traffic, and then this comes along. He was on his side of the road, but just lost it. Based on the lean of his bike, he was just plain going too fast for that outside turn.
The problem this morning was just the luck of the draw. There was practically no traffic, and then this comes along. He was on his side of the road, but just lost it. Based on the lean of his bike, he was just plain going too fast for that outside turn.
07-28-2010, 09:02 PM
#14
Melting Slicks
I've been over the road a few times, and a lot of the bikers are just out of control. A lot of them have no concept of what side of the road they are supposed to drive on. That is really bad given all the blind turns.
The problem this morning was just the luck of the draw. There was practically no traffic, and then this comes along. He was on his side of the road, but just lost it. Based on the lean of his bike, he was just plain going too fast for that outside turn.
The problem this morning was just the luck of the draw. There was practically no traffic, and then this comes along. He was on his side of the road, but just lost it. Based on the lean of his bike, he was just plain going too fast for that outside turn.
OP - glad things worked out.
Last edited by LMB-C6; 07-28-2010 at 09:39 PM.
07-28-2010, 09:24 PM
#16
Team Owner
Thread Starter
Goes both ways. I've ridden the Gap since the early '90s and I've seen plenty out of control cars crossing the double yellow. While in recent years, Deal's Gap has become very popular for both bikes and cars...but remember this place has always been a bike hang-out first. So, please watch-out for the bikers.
07-28-2010, 09:25 PM
#17
Moderator
Member Since: Dec 2002
Location: Lakewood Ranch, FL
Posts: 40,084
Received 3,589 Likes
on
1,626 Posts
Heads up driving Gordy! 
07-28-2010, 10:11 PM
#20
Race Director
The roads out west are not as forgiving when you make a mistake and I see people driving extremely fast thru them. One mistake and they are going for about a 500-2000 foot ride south and I'm not talking about the direction south.