Rider Updates
Jul 21 2012
Just went on an awesome canyon ride, Bountiful Canyon, leading to the Skyline trail which overlooks the Wasatch Front Mountain Range of Northern Utah. Could not pick a prettier ride, that is- until I was run off the road by a minivan. Let me paint a picture here so everyone can understand why it was "a minivan", and why that warrants mentioning. The skyline trail is just wide enough for a car and a half, give or take, depending on where you are on the trail, some place are so narrow that cars would not be able to pass, but I was near the beginning of the trail, and there were still some cars who had ventured up 12 miles of washboard dirt road, bowling ball sized rocks, and all manor of chipped/cracked windshield just for a chance to see this view.
I was on my 2006 CRF 450, fresh tires, fresh graphics, new gear, and generally feeling great. I had passed no less that 25 cars/Rhinos/4 wheelers as I made my way up to the trail head, but as I encountered a certain minivan, I saw that there was not a ton of room on the road, given that they had their half taken out of the middle. I was left with about 18 inches on the side of the road, the side that dropped off at an unforgiving angle into sage brush and scrub oak. As we approached each other I toned my speed back to a comfortable mid-3rd gear and took a line that was intended to get the driver of the minivan to get over enough to give me some room to pass. Such was not what happened. The driver- seemingly oblivious to my presence, maintained his course down the middle of this somewhat treacherous road and at the last second I had to swerve so we wouldn't hit each other head on. My swerve didn't give me enough room to counter steer and stay on the road. This minivan had essentially pushed me off the road, I went airborne just enough for my front tire to clear a boulder the size of a prize-winning watermelon, however, my back tire came down on a sharp corner of said boulder and blew out