At around 1:00 p.m., Thursday, June 16, park rangers were notified of a single bicycle accident on Trail Ridge Road. A 30 year-old man from Toronto, Canada, had been blown over on his bicycle by heavy wind gusts one quarter mile east of Lava Cliffs on Trail Ridge Road. A thunderstorm had moved through the area with winds in excess of 45 miles per hour. He suffered numerous traumatic injuries including head and pelvis injuries as well as hypothermia. He was wearing a helmet and was with another bicyclist. The other bicyclist was not blown over but suffered from hypothermia as well.
Park rangers assisted both men and the seriously injured man was taken by an Estes Park Medical Center ambulance to Alpine Visitor Center. When the accident occurred, an air ambulance from St. Anthony Hospital happened to be at the Alpine Visitor Center as part of a training exercise for park staff. At 2:20 p.m. the man was flown by St. Anthony Flight for Life to St. Anthony Central Hospital.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
