Photo of the Day: Here's How Bike Wrecks Happen

This is the result of a bike wreck on the Roanoke River Greenway in front of Roanoke Memorial Hospital this morning. I took part in the wreck in an inadvertent way. The woman on the ground was pretty well beat up, a present for her 60th birthday, she said. The guy in the yellow shirt--yelling at the biker leaving the scene--is somebody I used to work with.

Here's the scene: The greenway in front of the hospital has a series of tight curves and the road goes under two different bridges. Visibility is severely limited and slowing down is necessary. Some people don't. The guy leaving the scene here didn't. He also crossed over the yellow line after passing me and into the woman's lane. His foot clipped her foot as they passed. She went down hard, he kept going until our yelling brought him back.

He insisted he had done nothing wrong. He had: two things. He was going too fast and he was in the wrong lane. An hour later, as I was going back through this underpass on my return trip, he passed me again, going too fast, sliding over into the left lane and failing to warn me he was coming. This guy is a menace. He appears to be about 60 years old, a veteran rider and a guy who is irresponsible as hell. If he had a bike riders' license, I'd want it taken away. Too bad we don't have to have those.

One other note: the guy stooping to the right of the injured woman is a military medic, he said. He was quick, efficient and--I'd say--competent. While we were there, several medical personnel from Carilion Clinic passed. One asked if she could help. The others stopped, looked and left. I guess it's the liability insurance thingy.