Patch is reporting that there was a fatal collision involving a bike rider in Lake Forest this morning.
According to the site, the victim was riding with other bicyclists near the intersection of State Route 133 and Lake Forest Drive when he was hit by a car around 10 am this morning.
Identified only as an adult man, he was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
No other information is available at this time.
If confirmed, this would be the 45th bicycling collision in Southern California this year, and the seventh in Orange County.
Update: The Orange County Register tells a completely different story.
According to the Register, a 78-year old man was killed when he crashed his bike into the back of a car parked on the right shoulder while riding south on Laguna Canyon Road around 9:51 am.
My News LA places the location near Lake Forest Drive in Irvine, as shown in the original map.
The victim has not been publicly identified.
Update 2: The victim has been identified as Gary Thomsen, a member of the Bicycle Club of Irvine.
He was on the club’s regular Tuesday morning ride when he crashed into a Caltrans truck that was stopped on the shoulder, possibly after suffering a medical emergency.
The group doubled back when they learned of the crash, and discovered a doctor had already stopped and was performing CPR, to no avail.
His neighbors Sandi and John Carpenter offered a remembrance and a photo of Thompsen.
Gary and Fern were married for 54 years. They have three children and two grandsons.
He was always athletic, played football in college, then began running and after
retiring from IBM he became an active cyclist. He loved working on bikes and decided to go to the Barnett Bicycle Institute in Colorado Springs Colorado and be certified. He volunteered at the Bone Adventure Dog Day Care Center for many years. He and Leigh loved to travel.Gary being the kind, gentle person became our local go-to bike mechanic in the neighborhood as he was always willing to help. He was dubbed the “Fix bike for a beer” man.
He will be deeply missed by many.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Gary Thomsen and all his loved ones.
Thanks to Lois and John for the heads-up; thanks to Bill Sellin for the update.
Our prayers go up for the family and friends of the victim.
This is the kind of thing that sends shivers up my spine, because in the not-too-distant past my wife and I rode frequently with a popular group in that area.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s loved ones.
Gary was a wonderful human being and a joy to cycle with.
My deepest sympathy to his family. I know he will be greatly
missed in this world.
Ann Gayton