A cyclist without a helmet or ID died riding on my local bike path

[jobob]

I live near the Alameda Creek Trail, a paved multi-use path (MUP) which I ride a great deal.

I often see cyclists riding on this trail without helmets. Often I'll see family groups in which the kids are wearing helmets (it's the law in CA) but the parents are not wearing them.

I generally don't say anything to adults who aren't wearing helmets on the trail.

But after what happened on Tuesday, I might start speaking up again.


The AC trail crosses under a couple of highways and major throughfares. The underpasses involve a short downhill to cross under the road followed almost immediately by a short uphill. The underpasses are fairly dark, and there can be large rocks along the sides of the trail in the underpasses.

DH, a friend and I were riding on the trail Tuesday afternoon heading back home after a ride.

We approached one of the underpasses and saw police tape was stretched across the trail near the bottom of the decline, and more police tape across the incline on the other side. And a police car was parked in the middle of the trail just past the police tape on the other side.

Peering into the underpass we could just make out a bike laying partly in the trail and partly on the rocks. Lee slowly rolled forward to get a look and a policeman on a megaphone told him in no uncertain terms to back off. We then saw several policemen heading towards the downed bike. We turned around and took an alternate route home.

I forgot about it until this morning. I did a search and found this:

http://unioncity.patch.com/articles/...ail-in-fremont

We were there a couple of hours after this crash was discovered and the poor guy was taken to the hospital where he died.

According to the article, he was wearing a baseball cap. There was no mention of a helmet.

And to make this terrible situation even worse, he was not carrying any ID, and as of this writing I haven't seen any indication that he's been identified. Another report I found said that the police were investigating the scene of the crash that afternoon to see if they could find anything to help identify the man. That's probably what we came upon.

I'm guessing that he might have lost control heading down the short incline of the underpass, and crashed into the large rocks on the side of the trail. Just a guess on my part.

This happened on a paved, off-street bike path. I suppose people might assume that they're safe on a bike path so they don't need helmets, and they don't think of carrying ID. But, stuff happens, even on safe bike paths.

I might need to start speaking up again when I see people riding on the trail w/o helmets. I now, unfortunately, have a real-world example, right in our own backyard.

[indysteel]

How sad, Jo. I sure hope they're able to ID him soon. I tell ya; I feel weird even just tooling around my driveway without my helmet on (as I was last night). It's just so engrained at this point. And since getting my Road ID a few years ago, I sort of freak out if I forget it (even though I have identification in my seatbag, too). The Road ID feels like a talisman of some sort and that I'm tempting fate when I'm not wearing it.

[bmccasland]

That is sad. I know I have a spare insurance card in my bike's bento box. Maybe it's because I've worked fire/rescue and had to look for ID that I try to make it easy "to identify the body".


Seems like my pre-ride check list is something like:

Helmet - check
Medic Alert necklace - check

[jobob]

A person who is 5'5 to 5'7' doesn't wear size 12 men's shoes.

I saw that too. Yes, that's odd. Maybe there was a miscommunication. Or he could have been wearing women's size 12 shoes.

The description sure isn't helpful, but hopefully someone will have notified the police of a missing person by now.

Sad on so many levels.

[Blueberry]

It looks like the description is a little off though. A person who is 5'5 to 5'7' doesn't wear size 12 men's shoes. That's like a 14 in women's. Also, why don't they know how tall he is? Makes it so much harder to ID with such vague details. I bet someone is worried about him.

It is sad And it's always unnerving when such things happen close to home.

It is, however, possible to wear a men's 12 at that height - my ex step father wore a size 13 and he definitely wasn't over 5'7".

[goride]

And since getting my Road ID a few years ago, I sort of freak out if I forget it (even though I have identification in my seatbag, too).

A very sad story, for sure. I, too, see many people on the paved rec trails in my area with no helmets.

My solution for remembering my RoadID (wristband style) is to velcro it to the strap of one of my shoes when I put my gear away. When I put my shoes on, I have to remove the RoadID from the strap to close my shoe. Another friend just leaves her RoadID strapped around the headset of her bicycle.

[Velocivixen]

yes, sad story. I see adults and children with helmets that are waaaay back on their heads, not where they're supposed to be. I feel sad that they may have a false sense of security, when in reality, if they fall forward their heads won't be protected. I know there's two schools of thoughts about helmets. Personally, I always wear a helmet.

[jobob]

He still hasn't been identified. wow.

http://unioncity.patch.com/articles/...ains-a-mystery

[Catrin]

yes, sad story. I see adults and children with helmets that are waaaay back on their heads, not where they're supposed to be. I feel sad that they may have a false sense of security, when in reality, if they fall forward their heads won't be protected. I know there's two schools of thoughts about helmets. Personally, I always wear a helmet.

Tonight I was blasting downhill in my favorite park and heading around a tightish curve at the bottom of the hill before it hits a rather steep climb. There were a fair number of runners, but I just plain didn't expect to suddenly have a woman directly in front of me, headed the wrong way, on a folding bike, and her daughter (also riding the wrong way) on the shoulder with her helmet hanging halfway off the back of her head.

I wanted to give the woman a piece of my mind - more out of shock than anything. I came THIS close to hitting her straight on - there was no way to see her until it was almost too late. Thankfully it wasn't too late and I got through that curve without hitting anyone She was fortunate I wasn't a car

[OakLeaf]

Oh, man, that's awful. A reminder to the rest of us.

A person who is 5'5 to 5'7' doesn't wear size 12 men's shoes.

Why not? 5'3" me wears 11 wide women's, that would be about 9.5 wide men's?

[andtckrtoo]

Oh! I see a lot of people who fit that exact description riding around Cupertino without helmets. That is so sad. I hope they figure out who he is.

[bcipam]

Why not? 5'3" me wears 11 wide women's, that would be about 9.5 wide men's?

OK I thought my mother had big feet - she is 5'1" and wears a 9.5. I am 5'8" and wear a 10. My brother is like my mom, he's 5' 10" and wears size 15!!! My SO is 6'1" and wears only a 10. I tease him about his petite dainty feet!

Sorry to make light in such a tragic thread. I have to tell you, I am like the helmet "nazi" on the bike trails... I have no problem stopping and telling peole why wearing one is a good idea (such my head injury in 2003 I am the poster child for helmets!). ID too. I even wear my Road ID while flying. If they find my remains and something is left of it, I want them to ID me quickly.

[Grog]

This is a sad story.

I wear my RoadID all the time now. I have since getting the "elite" version but now I have the "slim" one (similar to a livestrong bracelet with the id plate snapped onto it), it's even lighter and I don't see why I'd take it off. Of course I carry ID in my wallet, which is pretty much always on me, but unlike the RoadID it doesn't include contact information.

By wearing it all the time, I just don't need to remember about it, it's just there.

[Bike Chick]

How sad and totally preventable. There's no guarantee a helmet would've saved his life but I would like to think it would have.

[jobob]

How sad and totally preventable. There's no guarantee a helmet would've saved his life but I would like to think it would have.

From what I've read, I'm inclined to agree.

Ed. to add: And still no news that he's been identified. Now, for all I know he could have already been ID'd, and either it hasn't been made public or I've been looking in the wrong places. I'll be away for the next week, so if anyone is following this saga you'll need to check on your own.