Utah Sport Bike Association

KZ and I pitched in today to help a rider who crashed in EC westbound just short of the summit. The gravel strip that's been in the final left hand sweeper before the top took him out. Be careful there people.

Thats the one that almost took me me out a few weeks ago. Nice to know it's still there. Maybe I'll head up tomorrow with a broom or something.

If heard it correctly there have been a number of crashes in that spot, if true, you would think the road crew would send up a sweeper or something.

With that said, it's an obvious, narrow strip of gravel. There's really no reason to run into it if you're paying attention. Tracks of the fallen rider tell the story very clearly, he took an early apex, probably fixated on the gravel and rode right into it. Front went one way, rear went the other, then hooked up hard with predictable results.

If it had happened another 10 yards down the road he would have gone right into a highway marker and it would have been much uglier. As it stood he landed in relatively soft gravel and dirt off the shoulder. The rider was wearing an ordinary shirt and chino type trousers. You would think a 68 year old would know better...

Mild case of shock, possible dislocated shoulder (which might have popped back). Trashed his 1980's Honda UJM.

East Canyon had a few spots that have a lot of gravel on the road, must of it is on the ends and like George said, if your paying attention you can see it. I hope the old man is alright, took a nice tumble especially for his age. Me and George were up at the summit telling cars to slow down trying to help out, and some old fart gave us the finger lol, Utah will never stop amazing me. Just another reminder to be careful out there boys

Yeah East Canyon does have some gravel issues. Glad the guy came out ok. That canyon can be nasty to crash in due to cliffs, trees, etc... I remember summer 2010 some guy wen't into a ravine up there and they had to life flight him out. Ride safe

I will also mention that the sheep are out. The last couple times I've gone through, there have been sheep in the road in several places around the reservoir. They seem to behave a little more predictably than deer, but you never really know...

I just wrote east canyon and it is super slippery. so watch out when you go up there!

Just to expand on that- SL county side was freshly slurry sealed this week. The tar snakes are dead, but there's a ton of pea-size gravel between the wheel tracks in both lanes, potentially VERY sketchy until we get a good rainstorm or a lot more traffic.

On the Morgan side there are lots of patches of larger gravel in the turns. If I didn't know better I would say it looked deliberate.

That is so weird! LAst year it was almost perfect from the get go and this year....Bleah!

Well, Chris, you remember that last year it opened a month later, and I would hardly call all those tar snakes "almost perfect"... It will be a much better surface than before, once the cars either smash the pebbles into the sealant or the wind and rain take them off. Death to tar snakes! Good riddance.

Once it's cleaned up that surface will be as grippy as anything. Nice and smooth and black, which right now is unfortunately masking the black pebbles.

Just wait, several Hardley Ablesons will go down and then the county might send a sweeper to do the job correctly. Yeah. Riiight.

Well, Chris, you remember that last year it opened a month later, and I would hardly call all those tar snakes "almost perfect"... It will be a much better surface than before, once the cars either smash the pebbles into the sealant or the wind and rain take them off. Death to tar snakes! Good riddance.

Once it's cleaned up that surface will be as grippy as anything. Nice and smooth and black, which right now is unfortunately masking the black pebbles.

Just wait, several Hardley Ablesons will go down and then the county might send a sweeper to do the job correctly. Yeah. Riiight.

I'll be damned! I can't remember any tar snakes, except for right when you go past the gate on the SLC side. I never jet through there because there is always a cop by the bathrooms, 3 cyclists riding side by side, and/or a nordic skier going up the road.

Gravel: teaching riders to slow down and go to the track since the beginning of time:)

I went up east yesterday, and there is still alot of gravel on the Morgan side, It's almost in every corner, It honestly looks like someone put it there on purpose . I may take a ride up there in my truck and clear everything out

I went up today and still plenty of gravel. That sweeper by the top is still loaded and scary Another massive patch oddly enough on a straightaway by the morgan side. Sucks that it's kinda messed up this year..

Rode East on Friday and was really pretty happy with it. West side up to the summit was great. East side heading from the summit to the reservoir had a couple mile stretch that seemed to have gravel in almost every corner, and the bit between the cutoff and the dam heading toward Morgan was pretty god awful (as usual) but overall, I was pretty happy with the ride. And for once in my life on that ride I didn't see a single deer!
Wish I could say the same about Monte though... my wife counted 9 separate occasions going over Monte where we had to virtually come to a stop because of deer chilling in the road. 58 degrees with 100% chance of god damn deer. Granted, they were all well behaved; didn't have any runners.