Bicyclist's screams ignored

indpls/star ^ | 051602

[InvisibleChurch]

Bicyclist's screams ignored

SANDPOINT, Idaho -- A bicyclist who fell off a pedestrian bridge clung to its girder and yelled for five hours before he was rescued -- ignored by two boys who walked away laughing, police said.

Christopher Blair apparently tipped over a guardrail on an unlit bridge over Lake Pend Oreille at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

The cyclist managed to scramble to safety on the bridge's concrete piling, and then climbed onto support beams 12 feet above water, where he began to scream for help.

"He said that he had been yelling for help all night and had even been located by two juvenile boys, but they would not help him," Sheriff's Deputy Ben Sterling said in a report filed Tuesday.

A nearby resident finally heard Blair's screams at 2:20 a.m. Sunday. A search by flashlight found Blair perched on the beams, suffering from early signs of hypothermia.

"I could see that he was trembling, he was wet, and he had a very red nose," Sterling said.

Rescuers lowered Blair by basket into a rescue raft and took him to Bonner General Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries and released.

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[Minnesoootan]

I bike daily,I can't stand roadies,I prefer the ditch where you don't need pink spandex and you're not competing with the machines the street was designed for.Bike rules along with ped rules suck.The roads are for motor vehicles,period.

[GSWarrior]

So let's outlaw bike riding after dark? Did you ever think perhaps this dude may have been either commuting to or from work?

[TopDog2]

For every rude cyclist out there there's at least two ignorant motorists who don't know the rules of the road when cyclists are present.

The "rules of the road" are the "rules of the road" whether or not there are cyclists present. What most arrogant bicycle riders don't realize is that, in a match up with a automobile, they will lose every time. Not moving to the side to let a car pass because, "It's my road too" is a one-way ticket to a Darwin award.

[ActionNewsBill]

The guy was an idiot for riding his bike at 9:30pm, and riding over a bridge.

And I ride my bike to work every day at 4AM. I guess you have a problem with that.

What really ticks me off about people like you is that you are just so far out of shape that the mere thought of any kind of exercise makes you break out in a cold sweat.

I feel sorry for you and your drive-thru, super-sized insulated metal coffin existence.

[Barbie Doll]

Riding a bike is not a crime, neither is riding a bike in the dark. If I had a job where I left work at night, you can bet I'd be driving a car.

[ActionNewsBill]

Only dopers and Libertarians ride bicycles, don't you know?

I guess that's what most of these idiots think.

[Barbie Doll]

I have NO problem with riding a bike. Where you ride a bike and when is totally up to you. Besides, this *bimbo* is in pretty good shape more than you think. Please don't assume, you know what they say about those that assume...

[Minnesoootan]

May have been,but to fall off a bridge sounds like he needs the training wheels back on.And the story that some kids ignored him,rather than say he can't swim,well,I've heard many a person make up stories to make their stupidity less embarrassing....also,like "the bridge was unlit,um,that's why I fell off it"

[Khurkris]

Lol..you have some " issues " to work out. Maybe the spandex is pinching your 'humor' nerve.

If ya can't laugh at yerself you're missing 1/2 of the fun.

[GSWarrior]

Yeah, he probably should have a light on his bike, but this happened in Sandpoint, Idaho--population 6,000. You must live in the city.

[ActionNewsBill]

Oh, ActionNewsBill, what the h*ll are you, some kind of grammer Nazi?

Not at all. The point I was tryng to make is that you and your ilk are so quick to criticize bicyclists when your idea of exercise is a marathon session with the TV remote control.

By the way, "grammer" should be spelled "grammar". But I shouldn't expect perfection from a "Barbie Doll".

[justshutupandtakeit]

If your proportions are anything like the original barbie, vavavoom.

If anyone wants to learn to hate bikers come to Chicago and watch them in action on the streets. I fail to understand how heavily exercising with a bus tailpipe up your nose could be good for your health.

[the bottle let me down]

For every rude cyclist out there there's at least two ignorant motorists who don't know the rules of the road when cyclists are present. I've seen some crazy and rude cyclists in my time but I've seen crazier and ruder motorists.

The next cyclist I see actually come to a stop at a stop sign will be the first. The vast majority don't even slow down. Not to mention riding the wrong way down a one way street and other blatant violations of the rules of the road.

[ActionNewsBill]

Besides, this *bimbo* is in pretty good shape more than you think.

Well, good for you!

[Lazamataz]

The cyclist managed to scramble to safety on the bridge's concrete piling, and then climbed onto support beams 12 feet above water, where he began to scream for help.

OH FOR G-D'S SAKE!!!

If I saw some pantywaist screaming for help because he was 12 feet above water, I'd laugh my ass off at him and keep walking, too! What is he, part cat?

[frodolives]

The Long Bridge (yes, they call it that up here and everyone knows what it means) is an interesting set of structures. The tandem bridges, yep that two, side by side, with a three foot gap in between, right down to the water, extend about two miles over the Pend Orielle river, (Ponderay to the Californicators) where it pours out of the lake and off to the Columbia. The water is damned cold, and it just got above freezing last night here (NORTH Idaho, seriously), so he'd croak before he'd get to shore, for shore!

The "old" bridge is a former highway, nice wide lanes, big ol' trees in planters, you could walk, or bike, ten or fifteen abreast. How this idiot "accidentally" fell off the edge is a mystery, more likely some drunk with a suspended driver's license that the yuppie, silly-shorts types arguing away here.

[Heyworth]

Yeah, and that guy who ran over one and only got caught because the cyclist managed to pull off the guy's license plate as he tried to avoid being pulled under the wheels was justified, right? I mean, he was in the way, right?

[ActionNewsBill]

Lol..you have some " issues " to work out.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I could retire!

[meyer]

It appears that bicyclists and motorists get along about as well on the internet as they do on the road. :)