WOW - keep your heads up, ladies!

This is really shocking. It happened just outside an office park where they do the local crits...pretty much no traffic on weekends so maybe they were too relaxed about their surroundings? Good warning for the rest of us...


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 plavigne@dallasnews.com

Wow is right
This is not something you would expect. I have heard of plenty of cyclists going thru back windows of cars (even parked ones they just didnt see in time) but never another cyclist.

Your right about keeping your head up .

What a tragedy.

I really feel for these cyclist's families.

But I have a question too. And that is, why were they riding in the center of the road? And were they really in the middle, or is the news report incorrect? (OK, maybe that's a dumb question - and I'm not trying to place any blame for this terrible accident - but I really don't understand.)

--- Denise

How tragic.

I think I drive by that location they are mentioning... on my way home from work. I always see cyclists out there and it looks like they are warming up for some *racing*. I have never stopped because I am too slow to bother with any of that.

It is very sad that someone died. Very sad.

If I were guessing and that's all I'm doing, they may have been in the middle because they thought they were alone. There's truly no traffic there after work hours and on weekends. It's just a quiet loop and I'm guessing they just got too lax, but who really knows.

KSH - it's at 190 and Renner. The crits are on Tuesday night...you are right, too fast for me, but fun to watch.

I saw at white rock a couple of weeks ago where an older gentleman plowed into a kid on a bike - the fellow was down in his tri bars staring at his feet I guess and never saw the kid. Then he proceeded to yell at the kid for being there and made a real jerk of himself. I had stopped to see if he was ok - then wished I had taken the kids side!

The assumption is that both of these riders had their heads down although I don't know that for a fact. It's just the best guess some of us were able to come up with. There was also some surmisement that they may have been going as fast as 25 mph each - that would total out to a 50 mph impact helmet to helmet.

It is tragic, a great reminder to look around and be aware of evrything around you.

Ok - more info...this is hear-say mind you and not a first hand witness account, but it explains how the two riders might have met in the middle of the road perhaps.

One rider - the older one who died I am told - was riding the crit course in the same way you would ride it if you were racing on a closed course. IE, swinging corners wide, taking turns in such a way that you would enter what would ordinarily be an oncoming traffic lane IF there were any traffic. He had probably done this any number of times on any number of occasions - and there was probably never any traffic out there. He took a wide turn, and upon coming out of the turn the oncoming (younger) rider saw him and tried to move to the center to allow him to pass on the outside of him. The older rider corrected his wide turn a bit too late to attempt to miss the rider in his path and both met in the middle with the older riders head striking the younger riders shoulder with his head tucked as if to duck from injury. The top of his helmet made contact, resulting in a broken neck.

This is NOT fact nor is it exactly what happened I'm sure, but it is one possible explanation.

What an awful awful thing for both riders and both families - my heart goes out to all of them :(