Head on bike crash kills cyclist....

Allen man killed in head-on bike crash

Plano: Second cyclist hurt on popular route in southeast part of city

08:37 PM CDT on Monday, August 15, 2005

By PAULA LAVIGNE / The Dallas Morning News

A head-on collision between two bicyclists killed one man and injured
another on a popular cycling route in southeast Plano.

The Sunday morning crash had area cyclists buzzing Monday as they
exchanged phone calls and posted messages on regional online cycling forums.

Jim Hoyt, owner of Richardson Bike Mart, said he's never heard of a
fatal head-on collision in his 50 years of cycling. "We can't figure it
out."

One cyclist, 52-year-old Michael Mahoney of Allen, was taken to Medical
Center of Plano, where he died Sunday. The Collin County medical
examiner's office would not release a cause of death Monday, but a
family friend said he died of severe head trauma.

The other cyclist, 37-year-old Jordan Muller of Richardson, was treated
in the emergency room and released, a hospital spokeswoman said. Mr.
Muller could not be reached Monday.

Both were riding road bikes and were wearing helmets, police said.

Nancy and Doug Clark have been friends of Mr. Mahoney and his wife,
Nadine, for almost 25 years.

Mr. Mahoney had worked for J.C. Penney since the late 1970s, and both
families had been transferred, at different times, by the company from
Wisconsin to North Texas.

"He loved his family more than anything, and he had friends that are
going to miss him forever," Mrs. Clark said. She said he had started
cycling about four years ago after knee surgery forced him to give up
running.

On Sunday, he and Mr. Muller were cycling in opposite directions near
Wyngate Boulevard and Wynwood Drive in an industrial section of
southeast Plano, Plano police Officer Carl Duke said.

Cyclists use the interconnecting streets as a circular route for timed
races staged on Tuesday nights and sponsored by Plano Cycling & Fitness.

Mr. Mahoney was cycling counterclockwise on the route and Mr. Muller was
riding clockwise, and they hit head-on in the middle of the street.

Race organizer Randy Eller said the races run clockwise, and most people
who cycle the course for practice would be going clockwise. They
probably wouldn't suspect someone coming from the other direction, he
said. However, the course is a series of public streets, and cyclists
can ride any direction they choose.

"It's seldom you would see someone going counterclockwise. But it's not
like [Mr. Mahoney] was doing anything wrong," Mr. Eller said. Mr. Eller
said racing cyclists could reach speeds of more than 20 mph on the
course, but police do not know how fast the two cyclists were going at
the time of impact.

Officer Duke said a passer-by called 911. Police are investigating the
fatality as an accidental death and do not anticipate filing criminal
charges, he said.

Laura Alton, a Richardson cyclist who came across the crash scene
Sunday, said she was surprised that the two collided on a straightaway
where it was likely one cyclist would see another approaching.

"I've just never heard of anybody hitting somebody head-on," she said.
"If you're riding on a tour or a rally, you might have a crash, but not
just head-on. Everybody's just kind of shocked by, 'Wow, how did this
happen?' "

Mrs. Clark said Mr. Mahoney had been cycling in the area before. He was
training for the popular Hotter'N Hell Hundred ride in Wichita Falls on
Aug. 27.

"It was a big event for him to do the Hotter'N Hell," J.C. Penney
co-worker and cyclist Craig Mathew said. "He really did live for it. I'd
say, 'Are you going to do the whole thing? The whole hundred miles?' And
he'd say, 'Yeah, yeah.' "

Along with cycling, Mr. Mahoney also was an avid fisherman, NASCAR fan
and motorcyclist, Mrs. Clark said. He and his wife had two adult
children, Thomas Mahoney and Monica Spaulding.

"He liked to do anything at least once," Mrs. Clark said. "He was never
afraid of a challenge."

The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at St. Jude Catholic Church in Allen.

E-mail

mrbubl wrote:

Jim Hoyt, owner of Richardson Bike Mart, said he's never heard of a
fatal head-on collision in his 50 years of cycling. "We can't figure it
out."

It's not real common, but it does happen. This bike shop owner needs to
get out more if he'sn ever heard of a fatal head-on collision between
cyclists.

RFM

Fritz M wrote:
mrbubl wrote:

Jim Hoyt, owner of Richardson Bike Mart, said he's never heard of a
fatal head-on collision in his 50 years of cycling. "We can't figure
it out."

It's not real common, but it does happen. This bike shop owner needs
to get out more if he'sn ever heard of a fatal head-on collision
between cyclists.

True, but it IS unusual on a straightaway as in this case. (Heard it
happened here in San Diego on a MUP that has a little blind curve hilly
section; might just be a "velo legend", however.)

Sad story.

Bill S.

mrbubl wrote:
Allen man killed in head-on bike crash

I don't understand something:

If these were public streets open to normal traffic, one of the
cyclists would appear to have been riding the wrong way. Which one? And
why was this aspect not mentioned in the article?

RichC

rdclark wrote:
mrbubl wrote:

Allen man killed in head-on bike crash


I don't understand something:

If these were public streets open to normal traffic, one of the
cyclists would appear to have been riding the wrong way. Which one? And
why was this aspect not mentioned in the article?

RichC

The guy killed was riding against traffic (counterclockwise).

mrbubl posted:
Allen man killed in head-on bike crash

Plano: Second cyclist hurt on popular route in southeast part of city

08:37 PM CDT on Monday, August 15, 2005

By PAULA LAVIGNE / The Dallas Morning News

snip

One thing that is not clear from the article is if they were on a trail
or on the road. If on the road, someone was on the wrong side of the
road.

Laura Alton, a Richardson cyclist who came across the crash scene
Sunday, said she was surprised that the two collided on a straightaway
where it was likely one cyclist would see another approaching.

"I've just never heard of anybody hitting somebody head-on," she said.
"If you're riding on a tour or a rally, you might have a crash, but not
just head-on. Everybody's just kind of shocked by, 'Wow, how did this
happen?' "

We may never know, but some people (it happens both driving and
cycling) will tend to watch ten feet (~3 metres) in fromnt of them. No
where near enough time to react.

Austin

Just goes to prove I couple of things I have come to realize: (1) it's
not just motor vehicles you need to be aware of. (2) riding the wrong
way, on the wrong side of the road is BAD!

Ken

I don't understand something:

If these were public streets open to normal traffic, one of the
cyclists would appear to have been riding the wrong way. Which one? And
why was this aspect not mentioned in the article?

RichC

The article says they collided in the middle of the street. Probably a
narrow
street with no traffic. Clearly when they were approaching on a
collision course
they needed to veer so as to pass on each others right. Maybe one guy
veered
the wrong way for some reason.
JeffT

rdclark wrote:
mrbubl wrote:
Allen man killed in head-on bike crash

I don't understand something:

If these were public streets open to normal traffic, one of the
cyclists would appear to have been riding the wrong way. Which one? And
why was this aspect not mentioned in the article?

RichC

Nothing to be confused about. There were no one-way streets involved.
Take a look at it for yourself:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=wyngat...7948&t=h&hl=en

or http://tinyurl.com/cheep

Gotta love technology....

-Buck

On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 15:44:01 GMT, mrbubl wrote:

Both were riding road bikes and ...

Laura Alton, a Richardson cyclist who came across the crash scene
Sunday, said she was surprised that the two collided on a straightaway
where it was likely one cyclist would see another approaching.

I bet one or both were using aero bars. Which also would have stuck the
heads out in front for a good impact. So most likely the dead one was using
one.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).