SAND on Secondary Roads for SFO

[raclow]

Went on a ride Friday, April 20th. Went Hwy 7 N to 123 N into Jasper, just part of the ride. There was a bunch of sand on 123. 123 was the most technical part of this ride. As if it isn't enough with it's downhill/uphill 10 MPH hair pin turns, there was sand on the sides and sometimes in the middle of the road. We have had quite a bit of rain and the rain has either washed the sand to it's places or the sand hasn't been washed away because there was so much to begin with.

I missed one of those hair pin turns and went straight into the other lane because I tapped my brake and the bike started skipping. I righted the bike and stopped before going off the other side. I didn't think I was going down, but because of the sand I didn't want to try the turn again because I didn't know if that would be what finally took me down. I was lucky a car wasn't going south on 123.

These less traveled roads will have sand. It isn't like we aren't going to talk before we ride on Saturday but some folks are riding on Friday and I wanted ALL people to be careful and aware of this sand.

To some, it may not seem like a lot of sand. But it will only take a cup of sand in the right place at the wrong time to cause a BIG disappointment. :dribble:

I will say this, it took awhile to get over my little experience. I played it through my mind several times. Usually we are looking for loose gravel and other objects......sand is sometimes hard to see. I thought I was going to be the next TWN. :blink:

Oh yea, I know there is sand in all states to deal with. This just happens to be some info from a local set of eyes.

We're going to have a great time and be careful at the same time.

Have a safe trip from your home destinations and I look forward to meeting all of you.

 

[Wingman]

I live about 3/4 mile from an asphalt plant and 1-1/2 miles from a gravel pit, so I am always on the lookout for debris on the road. The gravel pit operates a vac-sweeper every morning (about 1/2 mile each way from the entrance), but some of the stuff further away can cause problems. This probably explains why I treat all corners as if they will have loose stuff just waiting to get me!

About 2 months ago a truck missed a turn (tire marks led me to believe truck got real squirrily when he applied brakes before the corner) and turned over, dumping about 18 tons of gravel on the road and in the ditch. They had it cleaned up and swept off the road within 1/2 hr of the truck being towed away. The driver suffered only minor bruising and a busted ego, but probably got ticketed. (And the tow bill for TWO big wreckers will definitely sting a bit.)

There are a lot of secondary roads in AR that seem to always have sand and small gravel in the corners though. The past couple of rains here in NW AR haven't been enough to remove the sand and gravel, but the soaker last week seems to have removed a lot of the accumulated oil from the roads.

Be careful out there, wherever "there" happens to be.

David