The kids had a good time hanging out on the pull offs pretending to be Killboy. Their consumer grade cameras were unable to attain a fast enough shutter speed to get a sharp image of the Tankster.
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One thing stuck out in the statistics on tickets issued at Deals Gap last weekend: Two tickets for “Riding Standing Up”. I just could not see how this could or should be against the law. I contacted Mr. Browning to see if I could find out why riding standing up deserves a ticket. There are many circumstances where this is exactly the right thing to do. It is the safe thing to do. If a giant pothole appears in front of you that you cannot swerve around what do you do? Stand up. Really rough railroad tracks? Stand up. How do dirt bike riders ride? Standing up. Here is the answer I got:
I got one email today that made sense. Read it below.
I contacted Mike Browning, the Director of Public Affairs for the THP asking for a statement about the enforcement program at Deals Gap and I also asked him some specific questions about the program. I was surprised to hear back this evening. The first part was just a copy of the statement most people have already seen from Lt. Colonel Tracy G. Trott. He did provide me with some statistics from last weekends activity, and it was even broken down by how many citations had been issued to motorcycles and how many to cars. Below is the email he sent me.
There is a lot of controversy right now about the law enforcement situation at Deals Gap. Starting last weekend, and continuing through the month, there will be heavy enforcement by the Tennessee Highway Patrol on Deals Gap. Heavy enforcement means 10 to 15 THP units in the nine mile section of road. I was not there last weekend to witness any of this, but I do have some opinions on the situation. I will be down next week, but probably not during the weekend. If I arrive in Knoxville early enough on Sunday, I may ride down to witness first hand what is happening.