It was bound to happen:
Bicyclist Rescued After Falling Into River Along North Shore
Posted: 12:10 pm EST November 17, 2009
Updated: 12:48 pm EST November 17, 2009
PITTSBURGH -- A man was rescued on Pittsburgh's North Shore after falling into the river on a bike Tuesday.
Channel 11 News has learned that people nearby jumped in the river to help pull the man out.
The accident happened near the new Mister Rogers statue.
Medics and River Rescue arrived at the scene at about noon to make sure the man, whose name has not been released, was OK.
I was walking back from Kayak Pittsburgh one day this summer, when a little kid, just shy of the training wheels, took a wobbly turn into the drink. A passing cyclist (not the father) jumped off his bike and grabbed the kid just in time. His front wheel went over the edge, but he narrowly avoided going all the way in.
Pittsburgh River Rescue is on it:
I knew this would happen some day considering how many experienced cyclists ride there.
I've always kind of wanted to do this on purpose, but I would want to know how deep the water is. It would make a great Bikefest event, have a little ramp, come bombing down the hill, launch, wheee...
Of course my comments in no way imply that anyone attempt such a thing, or any responsibility on the part of myself for any injuries or death incurred in such activities etc....
It was just on the news and the guy is from Millvale, they said that he was dodging construction and his tire got stuck and he was thrown from the bike. He is fine - he recently retired from the postal service.
I joined a mountain bike race team at a university that shall not be named. It was more of a party team than a race team, and this was reflected in the drunken riding of bikes off a roof of a house a bunch of the guys rented and into their swimming pool. There was even a special collection of "pool bikes", since the water/chlorine did crazy things to hubs/bottom bracket. It was also discovered that these pool bikes worked much better when tires were deflated. I guess the 10ish foot drop didn't end so well when the tires wanted to float, and the rest of your bike didn't.
Being the square that I am, I never personally participated in such craziness.
All us Evel Knievel wannabes used to ride off the dock downtown into the river all the time. Had to tie a rope around your bike to get it back. Water in the works? hah.
That was better than building ramps to jump over the neighbor kids lying in the road. Poor Mike...
Let's just say, 'tis a far, far braver thing to be the jumpee than the jump-ing.
I can understand people making an unplanned turn into the river from time to time. It's kind of our local version of the Road Runner cartoons where Wile E. Coyote would make the occasional wild turn on the mountainside and be momentarily over a large precipice, then only plummet when he figured out there was nothing below him. Problem is, this is reality, not a Chuck Jones animation.
......oops.
i'm so sick of pulling these cyclists out of the damn river
He is fine - he recently retired from the postal service.
It can only get better after retirement.
I always get paranoid that someone is going to push me (or just bump into me and knock me over) and I'll fall into the river. I get the same way around pools, too.
i'm always worried this will happen to me while riding the trail near the stadiums with all the random foot traffic etc (especially when we ride to a game and want to lock the bikes up near the stadium). drinks, etc. don't seem to help me or the pedestrians. my biggest fear though is loosing my nice bike into the drink, uh i mean river.
I am always afraid that I will be clipped in and not be able to unclip!
Hmm.. perhaps someone should develop something like an airbag.. a set of auto inflating buoyancy bags that inflate with co2 cartridges or something..
Ha ha, quizbot said they should have a life preserver under every bike seat.
According to the bikeforums report, he did have difficulty getting unclipped. The amount of time it takes to hit the water might be described as "leisurely" compared with how fast things happen in traffic.
Mick
