Still, the Killboy cameras capture only a handful of crashers each year. Just how many riders bail on Deal's Gap on a given sunny weekend? Maybe five or 10, though it's just speculation, since with 318 turns, there are plenty of places to crash anonymously, dust yourself off, find your missing glove and hightail it the hell out of there. Just in case they happen upon an "incident," each of the Killboy photo cars is equipped with a broom, grease sweep and leaf blower to help keep things tidy. The show's over, move along.
What causes most of the crashes? Killboy founder Darryl Cannon says that most people actually fall on the roadside gravel when they pull to the shoulder and forget it ain't pavement. For the guys who do lose it on the pavement, "Every black mark leading to a crash is due to somebody getting on the back brake too hard," Cannon says. "It's better not to use it at all, just to make sure you don't panic and lock it up."
Darryl himself has been snake-bit by the Tail of the Dragon. Riding a camera bike for a DVD appropriately called Bit by the Dragon, a bobble by the lead rider triggered a bigger twitch from the second one and an even bigger spasm (and front-end departure) for Darryl in the third position. Even years of Deal's Gap road wisdom can't inoculate you against calamity. Darryl was hurting for sure after that one...but of course the photos were freakin' awesome!
10 Top Ways Not To Crash
1. Learn the road.
2. Stay on your side!
3. Leave room for oncoming jackasses who don't stay on their side.
4. Forget about your rear brake on the pavement.
5. Forget about your front brake on the roadside gravel.
6. Know where to pass-if you pass at all.
7. Don't turn across the centerline to get to the shoulder.
8. Memorize those turns riders/drivers frequently blow.
9. Respect the Dragon.
10. No "douche bagging."
 After gathering up countless...  After gathering up countless abraded victims, the Killboy crew is not big fans of denim. But thanks to the relatively low speeds on Deal's Gap, this lad lost the rear end and escaped with nothing more than some bruises, a trendy stonewashed look and a precipitous drop in resale value. |  |  After toting about twice the...  After toting about twice the speed he needed into this bend, imagine this rider's relief at discovering a whole extra lane provided just for this kind of situation! But what are the odds that our transgressor would almost clip his identical twin coming the other way? According to Cannon, this was one of the sickest near misses the Killboy crew has seen. Crashbars were bent, saddlebags fragged, neatly folded underwear rained down, but nobody fell off. It did take the justifiably incensed white-helmeted rider a while to stop spouting invective, however. |
 Killboy and crew in action....  Killboy and crew in action. Cannon's nickname came not from his grisly crash photos, but from his flight-simulator handle. |  |  |