Re: [ST] Fwd: Fw: Bandits R US > Watch your speed on the Dragon

[Matthew Heyer <matthewheyer@xxxxxxxxx>]

Glad I went to the RAID this year and it was early, although I did get pulled over 4 times on the trip...
 
I just hope it subsides by the time of the RAID next year!
 
 
Matt Heyer


----- Original Message ----
From: John Ulizzi <jaulizzi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: neo_motorhead_society@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; "NE OH HSTA group @ Yahoo" <neohhsta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; clevelandrats@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; st@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 10:33:40 AM
Subject: [ST] Fwd: Fw: Bandits R US > Watch your speed on the Dragon


Well, I guess we all knew it would happen sooner or
later. It sounds like the Gap, the Cherohala, and the
entire surrounding area will be pretty thick with
Johnny Law for quite some time. It was fun while it
lasted, and I consider myself lucky to have had the
opportunity to go there on several occasions with
several different bikes. Can't say as I will ever go
again though...not with this report and so many others
like it.

The people I feel the most sorry for are the local
businesses that have spent years building a clientel
and serving the sporting motorists that have flocked
there....

>From another list:
> Subject: Fw: Bandits R US > Watch your speed on the
> Dragon
> 
>  > Targeting the Dragon
> >
> > Tennessee
> >
> > May 11, 2006
> >
> > Tennessee and North Carolina state troopers aren't
> looking to slay the
> > Dragon, but they do want to keep its fire under
> control with Operation
> > Dragon 2006.
> > The joint effort will combine the forces of
> Tennessee and North Carolina
> > highway patrols to make the Dragon and nearby
> roadways safer.
> > Troopers from both agencies will provide a highly
> visible presence in the
> > areas frequented by motorcyclists and sports car
> enthusiasts. The first
> > coordinated operation is scheduled Saturday and
> others are planned
> > during the summer and fall.
> > Troopers in both states will conduct their own
> intensive enforcement
> > efforts at other times during the season.
> > THP Sgt. Danny Thomas, who oversees highway patrol
> activities in
> > Blount and Monroe counties, said the enforcement
> activities are all
> > focused on safety.
> > ``We welcome everyone who visits the Dragon and
> the areas around it,
> > as long as they obey the law,'' Thomas said.
> ``We're doing intensive
> > enforcement in an effort to make the roadways safe
> for everyone on two,
> > four or even 18 wheels.''
> > The Dragon sports 318 curves on an 11.1-mile
> stretch of U.S. 129,
> > running from Deal's Gap at the North Carolina line
> to Tabcat Bridge
> > alongside Chilhowee Lake -- a 1,085-foot change in
> elevation. It is one of
> > the nation's favorite rides for motorcycles and
> sports cars. The run has
> > been touted in several national magazines as well
> as on several Internet
> > sites. The often heavy traffic on the narrow
> highway includes riders and
> > drivers from across the country, some from other
> continents.
> > Unfortunately, the festive atmosphere is too often
> clouded by accidents,
> > some of them fatal.
> > In 2005, there were three deaths on the Dragon --
> all of them
> > motorcyclists. Thomas said that in 2005 troopers
> investigated 47
> > accidents on the Dragon, 41 of them involving
> motorcycles. He said the
> > number of accidents on the Dragon was down from 57
> investigated by
> > THP in 2004 -- 51 of those involved motorcycles
> and two were fatalities.
> > So far in 2006, Tennessee troopers have
> investigated only nine wrecks
> > on the Dragon. Eight were motorcycle accidents.
> However, troopers
> > have responded to reports of accidents on the
> Dragon 27 times in 2006.
> > Eighteen times so far this year, the troopers and
> often Rural/Metro
> > Ambulance Service have rushed to the area only to
> find a motorcyclist's
> > friends have picked up the rider and bike and the
> reported accident has
> > vanished.
> > ``It's hard to estimate the manpower and expense
> involved in responding
> > to these disappearing accidents,'' Thomas said.
> > Statistics were not available regarding the number
> of accidents in North
> > Carolina related to the area near the Dragon.
> However, the five counties
> > in Western North Carolina in the area near the
> Dragon have had a 56
> > percent increase in motorcycle accidents from
> 2004.
> > North Carolina troopers will be assigned to the
> Deals Gap area near the
> > top of the Dragon and to the Cherohala Skyway,
> where some say the
> > probability of motorcycle accidents is even
> greater than on the Dragon.
> > The Cherohala Skyway linking Robbinsville, N.C.,
> to Tellico Plains
> > includes 15 miles in North Carolina and 21 in
> Tennessee.
> > Tennessee troopers will focus on the Dragon, but
> others will be active on
> > the Tennessee end of the Cherohala.
> > Marked and unmarked cars, motorcycles and aircraft
> will be used on
> > both sides of the state line in the effort to curb
> accidents and, 
> > according
> > to Thomas, ``improve driving habits.''
> > ``We're not anti-motorcycle. I've got one of my
> own and take it up and
> > over the Cherohala into Tellico Plains whenever I
> get a chance. That's a
> > really beautiful ride.
> > ``But, I can't enjoy it as much as I'd like when I
> have somebody on a
> > sports bike or sports car zipping around me on a
> curve and making me
> > think I'm going to find them smashed up around the
> next curve.
> > ``Speeding and reckless driving are what we're
> trying to stop,'' Thomas
> > said. ``That way, everybody can enjoy themselves
> without getting hurt."
> 
> 
> 

_______________________________________________
Triumph Sprint ST/RS mailing list
Send list posts to ST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Change your list options at www.Triumphnet.com
_______________________________________________
Triumph Sprint ST/RS mailing list
Send list posts to ST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Change your list options at www.Triumphnet.com