On my way to FCCII this morning I passed a man walking his bicycle just east of the Underpass of Eternal Darkness. I slowed and asked if he needed help. I wish I had taken a photo, because his crabon frame was literally broken in half. His name was Tom, and he was walking it home. He claimed to not be injured, which I hope is true.
The incident occurred as he was heading westbound under Sycamore by EFC and a (jackass) rider coming eastbound decided to pass a jogger and came into his lane. Those of you familiar with that location know that there are no sightlines and no place to bail (into the creek perhaps, but rocks–you would get injured). This resulted in a head-on collision, totaling his bike.
Others at FCC had passed this location earlier and saw the other rider alongside the trail and had also seen Tom walking his destroyed bike. dcv seemed to think the eastbound rider was the same one who shoaled the FCC convoy at Gallows, so perhaps a small bit of comeuppance, but at the expense of Tom and his bike.
We agreed that Tom should have called the police and gotten a report. This would be useful for at least two reasons: 1) he might have gotten replacement money from the other rider or his insurance company (the jogger would be a good witness to help his case) and 2) it would show up in county records and might help start momentum to improve the design at this location, which is notoriously bad.
I don’t believe Bruce Deming’s book discusses crashes between two bicycle riders. Mostly it’s about collisions with cars. I wonder what he would advise in this situation?
I also wonder if “No Passing” signs should be placed along the trails in some of these notoriously bad locations? I think we’ve all observed close calls in some of these spots because of idiots trying to pass where they cannot see ahead.
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