DIABLO, Wash. -- A Mount Vernon man died when his motorcycle left the roadway on Highway 20 in eastern Whatcom County yesterday.

The State Patrol reports 35-year-old Sky Allen Suiter was riding eastbound on the North Cascades Highway near Ross Lake just before noon when he failed to negotiate a curve and his bike ran off the road to the right.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators say Suiter was riding too fast for conditions.

He was wearing a helmet.

The crash and investigation backed up traffic on the heavily traveled highway for a couple of hours.