via Google Streetview.
The two Canadian women involved in a collision Monday on Highway 101 north of Gold Beach remain hospitalized at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Springfield (near Eugene) today.
30 year old Martha McClean remains in the Intensive Care Unit. That’s all I was able to find out about her condition after a call to the hospital today. McClean’s riding partner, 26-year-old Essya Mabrouka Nabbali, is listed in fair condition and one of her nurses told me she’s “stable” and “coming along.” The nurse also said Nabbali’s family is by her side.
Coast Bike Route are serene;
most of it is along
high-speed roads
with narrow shoulders.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Also since Monday, a woman that arrived on the scene just seconds after the collision occurred has come forward. Mary Matzek was a passenger in a motorhome traveling just behind McClean and Nabbali. Matzek wrote about what she saw and shared photographs of the scene on her personal blog (warning: the images are graphic and may be upsetting).
Matzek has also left several comments on our article about the collision.
This collision underscores what some people feel are inadequate bicycling conditions on the Oregon Coast Bicycle Route. The route is extremely popular with bike tourists from all over the world and it’s officially signed and designated by the State of Oregon as a scenic bicycle route.
While some segments of the route are off the main highway, most of it puts bicycle traffic on narrow shoulders just feet away from high-speed auto, truck, and RV traffic with only a strip of paint for protection.
In the case of this recent collision, it appears that the operator of the automobile hit the women from behind while they rode in the shoulder. The Oregon State Police have not released any updated information about their investigation into the crash. I left a message with Lt. Gregg Hastings today and have not heard back.