I wonder if that accident in Lower Burrell had anything to do with the Tour De Strongland race this weekend?????
2009-09-14 11:34:22
14
Maybe word needs to get out in the New ken/ LB/ Plum area
http://postgazette.com/pg/09256/997798-100.stm
This is the third incident in the past month in this area. A cyclist died in New Ken near the Tarentum Bridge a couple weeks ago. Then, in a event not covered by the media, a cyclist was hit on RT909 in Plum just over the New Ken line when a Jeep pulled out in front of him. I only know this because my fire department was called to the scene. The cyclist was injured but awake and aware when we got there. BTW, the plum police were just going to leave the bike lying at the scene until my chief inquired about it. They stated "maybe you should take it, if you're so worried." In the end, we convinced them to handle it as it was worth $$$$, carbon fiber everything.
Now this event. Another bicycle accident in Lower Burrell. These three events are within a 4 or 5 mile radius.
With more and more cyclists on the road in this area, maybe someone can get a letter out in the Valley News Dispatch or something. I hate to see this as a continuing trend. I have been a Firefighter for 17 years and could not recall this type of frequency with bike accidents in this area.
2009-09-13 20:24:00
The intermediate road race did use Wildlife Lodge, and the time of the accident does match up with race times, I think....
2009-09-14 13:10:47
sgtshultz, get the word out to who? To drivers to stop being dicks or to cyclists to watch their asses?
2009-09-14 13:34:14
From a teammate who was at the race:
"Yes I heard they had to take away two(?) people who were involved with
a head-on car collision during the neutral start (!) in the
intermediate race. Apparently there was something of a pile-up. I
have no idea what happened or how they are."
There also apparently a near-miss during the expert race, too, in a different location.
2009-09-14 14:53:40
Two bicyclists were taken by helicopter to a hospital after crashing into cars on Wildlife Lodge Road on Sunday morning during the annual Tour De Strongland bike race, officials said.
The accident happened shortly before 10:30 a.m. as about 65 bicyclists were starting a 22-mile race that was one of three run Sunday in the annual event sponsored by the Strongland Chamber of Commerce.
Lower Burrell police Sgt. Greg Dale said the two bicyclists were traveling downhill when they went into the oncoming lane of traffic. Two cars coming up the hill stopped.
One bicyclist, a 25-year-old woman from Leechburg, lost control and slid into the front of the first vehicle. The other bicyclist, a 44-year-old man from Freeport, clipped the back of the first vehicle and slid under the front end of the second vehicle.
Dale would not release the names of the bicyclists or the drivers. No information on the extent of the bicyclists' injuries was available.
2009-09-14 16:48:48
respect the line 
(
2009-09-14 18:49:51
The 4/5 race at Fort Cherry had a few instances when racers were playing with fire, too. When you're in the heat of a race, the yellow line rule seems really dumb, and if no one is willing to force a selection, it can suck because the pack stays rather large and it can be hard to move up without crossing the line.
The Mingo Creek races can be dicey, too, since there are some roads were there aren't yellow lines, yet the road is two way.
2009-09-14 19:03:44
So cars were allowed to travel upstream while the race was going on?
2009-09-14 19:11:05
So cars were allowed to travel upstream while the race was going on?
Yep. It's how most of the races are allowed to happen in the first place. Closing a bunch of roads wouldn't go over too well.
2009-09-14 19:29:43
My point was that these incidents are not limited to the downtown pittsburgh area.
2009-09-15 01:31:18
2009-09-16 00:53:59
From the trib:
Gatto collided with a vehicle driven by John Durand, 41, of Arnold, whose vehicle was partially stopped on the road and partially on the berm.
Ekas grazed the back end of Durand's vehicle and hit the front end of a vehicle driven by Mark McCandless, 45, of Buffalo Township, and became lodged underneath it.
When I read this stuff, I'm reminded there are often good reasons for car dirvers to be angry at bikers.
Sound like the bikers had a perfect trifecta going - illegal, unsafe, AND obnoxious.
That being said, I hope the folks involved recover OK. Being removed in a helicopter is serious stuff.
Mick
2009-09-17 16:32:59
Definitely not limited to the city, sgtshultz. I actually think city riding can be safer than the suburbs, if done properly.
Mick, I wouldn't be so fast on 'obnoxious'. It's an awfully hard temptation to resist, especially if you're not an experienced racer, and if you're not careful (or willing to push back), you can find yourself squeezed across the line involuntarily by other novices.
But no, you really can't blame the motorists all the time.
Speaking of which, and thread-jacking a little bit, I saw two cyclists nearly get creamed on Tuesday night. They were riding the wrong way down a one-way section of Meade Street after dark, with no headlights. A motorist turned left from Lang to Meade and, whoa, wtf!!
Anybody here want to fess up? Nice blinky on the back, btw, but it won't do any good when riding against traffic. This was a sharp reminder to me that the biggest risk of wrong-way riding isn't mid-block, it's at the intersections (but also including intersections with driveways).
2009-09-17 17:13:29