Four-wheel drive hits Canberra cyclists

[Patrick Keogh]

From the ABC web site...

A four-wheel drive vehicle has hit a group of cyclists on Cotter Road in
Canberra, causing serious injuries.

About five cyclists were in the group that was hit just after 10:00am AEST.

Two have been taken to the Canberra Hospital.

One is in a critical condition and the other in a serious condition.

The injured cyclists were believed to have been competing in the
Canberra Cycling Tour.

ACT Emergency Services Agency spokesman Russell Buchanan says the
section of road is quite dangerous.

"It's a very hard area, there's a hill and it drops down through some
S-bends and it's notorious for incidents over the years," he said.

Canberra Cycling Tour spokeswoman Tanya Sard says the women's B race was
suspended immediately after the accident.

She says all the competitors are being checked for injuries and are
receiving counselling.

"They were all together and they saw it and the majority of the bunch
did come down but only a few riders came into the course of the oncoming
car," she said.

 

[SteveA]

From the ABC web site...

A four-wheel drive vehicle has hit a group of cyclists on Cotter Road in
Canberra, causing serious injuries.

About five cyclists were in the group that was hit just after 10:00am AEST.

Two have been taken to the Canberra Hospital.

One is in a critical condition and the other in a serious condition.

The injured cyclists were believed to have been competing in the
Canberra Cycling Tour.

ACT Emergency Services Agency spokesman Russell Buchanan says the
section of road is quite dangerous.

"It's a very hard area, there's a hill and it drops down through some
S-bends and it's notorious for incidents over the years," he said.

Canberra Cycling Tour spokeswoman Tanya Sard says the women's B race was
suspended immediately after the accident.

She says all the competitors are being checked for injuries and are
receiving counselling.

"They were all together and they saw it and the majority of the bunch
did come down but only a few riders came into the course of the oncoming
car," she said.

Not good news.

Hope everyone is OK.

Best wishes to everyone affected.

SteveA

 

[TimC]

On 2007-04-29, Patrick Keogh (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> From the ABC web site...

And more detailed on tonight's ABC news.

> The injured cyclists were believed to have been competing in the
> Canberra Cycling Tour.

On or near Mt Stromlo if the footage was at all an indication, and it
was a bunch from the women's B grade race, if I understood correctly.

I don't think any active denizen of this froup would be participating
in that; I hope no lurkers of this group were affected.

Something about clipped wheels and then one rider falling into the
path of the oncoming 4WD -- she's now critical.

I think the ABC news even managed to rustle up a spokesperson from CA.

--
TimC
Never trust a man who can count to 1,023 on his fingers. --unknown

 

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on Sun, 29 Apr 2007 21:48:14 +1000
TimC <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Something about clipped wheels and then one rider falling into the
> path of the oncoming 4WD -- she's now critical.
>

Ouch!

Traumatic for all, including the driver.

Zebee

 

[Aeek]

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 21:48:14 +1000, TimC
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On or near Mt Stromlo if the footage was at all an indication, and it
>was a bunch from the women's B grade race, if I understood correctly.

http://www.canberracyclingclub.org.au/ccc/events/canb_tour.asp?IntPgId=15

Stage 3 C3/C4 would be my guess, said start of Brindabella Rd.

 

[PeteSig]

"Patrick Keogh" wrote:
> From the ABC web site...
>
> A four-wheel drive vehicle has hit a group of cyclists on Cotter Road in
> Canberra, causing serious injuries.

<snip>

> "They were all together and they saw it and the majority of the bunch did
> come down but only a few riders came into the course of the oncoming car,"
> she said.

A very diturbing peice of news, and my thoughts go out to all those injured.
Hope they recover quickly.

Maybe a case of the 'cycling media' here putting too much of a slant on a
story however. What I heard on tonight's TV news was that the cyclists
clipped wheels while racing then fell in the path of the 4WD, one being hit
and seriously injured. We need to leave the judgements up to the police, and
courts if necessary

--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

 

[MikeyOz]

We need to leave the judgements up to the police, and
courts if necessary

Hope everyone that was hurt, recovers well, particularly the girl who is critical. Will wait for all the information to form my view.

Sux.

 

[Bean Long]

Aeek wrote:
> On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 21:48:14 +1000, TimC
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On or near Mt Stromlo if the footage was at all an indication, and it
>> was a bunch from the women's B grade race, if I understood correctly.
>
> http://www.canberracyclingclub.org.au/ccc/events/canb_tour.asp?IntPgId=15
>
> Stage 3 C3/C4 would be my guess, said start of Brindabella Rd.

It was 5 mins behind our bunch heading down into Cotter Xing on the
Cotter Rd. Stage 3 58k loop. Women's B with a few of our friends in
the bunch. Our club treasurer came down pretty hard and hit her head
but has apparently left hospital now. I wouldn't like to give my
version of events as it's likely to be affected by Chinese whispers, as
we didn't find out until we saw that Women's B (who were 5 mins behind
and supposed to be riding the same route) were at the start/finish when
we came to the end of the race. Suffice to say there were a few wheels
clipped, some riders came down and one was hit by an oncoming car. Not
good at all. Ten seconds either way and it may have been no more than a
bit of lost skin. We were all pretty shocked.

--
Bean

Remove "yourfinger" before replying

 

[neon]

Sad to hear about this. I hope everyone that was injuired makes a speedy recovery.

But well done to the Canberra Cycling Club on the tour. 600+ entries. Road cycling is certainly on the up.

 

[jcjordan]

Although I did not see the crash, I know the area where it happened quite well as its on one of the most popular training routes in Canberra.

Having spoken to a few of the people in the club it was just one of those freak accidents that happen in races, with a bit of bad luck thrown in. They were coming down into the Cotter river which is quite fast with a couple of tight turns and there was a small clip of the wheels and unfortunately as they all went down a 4x4 came around the corner. Its not really a busy road and quite often you can do the whole loop without even seeing a car, just other cyclists.

Lets hope they all heal soon and get back on the bike.

 

[Bean Long]

jcjordan wrote:
> They were coming down into the Cotter river which is quite
> fast with a couple of tight turns and there was a small clip of the
> wheels and unfortunately as they all went down a 4x4 came around the
> corner.

From what I know it was not far west of the Stromlo Observatory
entrance, just as the road starts the first decline, well before the
steep section and hairpin. Not exactly a difficult part of the course.
However, it was stage 3 and a big bunch and everyone was getting a bit
tired I'd say. We were 5 mins ahead and our grade had exactly the same
course as Women's B for the entire tour. At about the same spot as the
accident happened I recall being quite worn out and thinking to myself
"better keep my mind on the job or I'm going to run up someone's ar$e".
The accident had happened so early in the stage that riders probably
weren't even in a good rhythm yet.

Unfortunately no updates on the rider who hit the 4WD, but we are
certainly all thinking of her.

On the upside, the tour was fantastic and very well organised. Many
thanks to Peter Gough and all his minions who did a fantastic job
handling 630+ riders. The tour was desperately short of marshals just
last week and many volunteers stepped up to the plate to help out. It
was good to have the opportunity to thank them as we went around the
course... something quite easy to do when you've been dropped by the
bunch! For the racing, it was a pity there was so much rain, but we
desperately needed it and I didn't notice how freakin' wet I was after
the first 3 k's!

Photos on the CCC website for those who are interested. Points to those
who can spot me in the Tuggeranong Vikings gear #368!

http://www.canberracyclingclub.org.au/ccc/photos/Canberra Tour 29-4-2007/


--
Bean

Remove "yourfinger" before replying

 

[Aeek]

On Tue, 01 May 2007 09:38:10 +1000, Bean Long
<[email protected]> wrote:

> From what I know it was not far west of the Stromlo Observatory
>entrance, just as the road starts the first decline, well before the
>steep section and hairpin. Not exactly a difficult part of the course.
>However, it was stage 3 and a big bunch and everyone was getting a bit
>tired I'd say. We were 5 mins ahead and our grade had exactly the same
>course as Women's B for the entire tour. At about the same spot as the
>accident happened I recall being quite worn out and thinking to myself
>"better keep my mind on the job or I'm going to run up someone's ar$e".
> The accident had happened so early in the stage that riders probably
>weren't even in a good rhythm yet.

RiotACT has a reasonable account on this amongst the dross
http://the-riotact.com/?p=4797