Monday, June 2, 2003 | 10:59 a.m.
George Wheatin, a 61-year-old bicyclist who was killed May 25 along State Route 160 near Mountain Springs, was known as "Speedin' Wheatin" from his racing days.
But Nevada Highway Patrol troopers say a 22-year-old motorcyclist, Jeremiah Carlson, was the one who was speeding when he collided with Wheatin near a summit along a scenic route popular with all types of two-wheelers.
Speeding drivers are a problem that Las Vegas area bicyclists face every day, said Debbie Craig, co-owner of Pro Cyclery at 7034 W. Charleston Blvd. But the danger is particularly high along the stretches of roadway that Wheatin rode in the last hours of his life, S.R. 160 and S.R. 159, authorities said.
State Route 159 is the scenic highway that winds through Red Rock Canyon and it links with S.R. 160.
S.R. 159 -- also known as Charleston Boulevard -- from Summerlin through Red Rock Canyon to S.R. 160 and up to the Mountain Springs summit is the most popular bike route in the valley, several bike enthusiasts said.
It's also popular with motorists, however.
"(Drivers) are speeding and looking at the scenery, looking at the mountains," Craig said. "There are so many distractions, and people aren't paying attention to the roads."
Wheatin was riding alone on S.R. 160 north when the crash occurred at about 9 a.m. May 25. Trooper Wayne Prosser said Wheatin had reached the summit and was turning around in the center turn lane when Carlson, also heading north, allegedly struck him.
The speed limit along the roadways used to be 45 mph but within the last few years it was increased to 60 mph and 65 mph in various stretches, officials said.
Dr. John Davis, 47, a Summerlin resident who has been cycling in the area for years, said the near misses along the roadway increased when the speed limit went up on what some call "Widowmaker Road."
"I stopped riding out there for several months because every time I went out I had too many close calls, too many skids to try to keep from getting hit," he said. "And drivers out there act like the wild burros in the area have dropped in from outer space. They see one and they slam on the brakes. I've seen many near collisions of multiple vehicles because of the burros.
"On the other hand," he added, "people who ride bikes out there do get a little cavalier. I've seen 10 people riding together and two of them will be out in the middle of the road. Everybody just needs to look out for each other because it's getting a heck of a lot more traffic. On weekends it gets to be practically bumper to bumper."
Carlson apparently was going above the speed limit when he hit Wheatin, but his exact speed hasn't been determined yet, Prosser said.
Wheatin and Carlson were wearing helmets. Carlson was riding with a group of other motorcyclists but only one stopped to check for injuries, authorities said. Charges were still pending against Carlson this morning, Trooper Angie Wolff, Nevada Highway Patrol spokeswoman, said.
Bruce Mackey, bicycle and pedestrian safety education officer for the state of Nevada, said Wheatin's death was "very unusual."
"This is the first occurrence that I can think of in the past five years where a motorcycle collided with a bicycle," he said.
But Wheatin was the third bicyclist killed in Clark County this year, and the second bicyclist to die in the S.R 159/S.R. 160 area in the past nine months, Mackey said.
Last August, 39-year-old Timothy Poore of Las Vegas was struck by a car and killed as he pedaled along the paved shoulder where S.R. 159 enters Red Rock Canyon.
Davis said the death hit home for him because it was along his regular cycling route.
"The cycling community is very small," Mackey said. "And when one of us dies, it sends ripples through the whole community."
Mackey said he's gotten e-mails from cyclists who are very upset about Wheatin's death.
"I've heard some wonderful things about this cyclist. He was a former racer, a great guy, very involved in biking locally and all of a sudden we lose him. It's a great tragedy."
Wheatin was a regular customer at Craig's bike shop, she said.
"He came in all the time and said, 'Speedin' Wheatin is here!' " Craig said. "He was a bike racer in Chicago, then about four years ago he got back into it again."
Whenever bicyclists get on a highway, they're facing danger, Trooper Angie Wolff said.
But Mackey said if a bicyclist has proper training, bicycle riding can be one of the safest forms of recreation. After all, he said, 10 times as many pedestrians get struck and killed by vehicles.
But there are generally many more pedestrians than bicyclists on and around the roadways, so that increases the odds that more pedestrians will be killed by traffic.
Craig said minor collisions between bicycles and cars happen more often than people realize. People come into the shop fairly often with bikes damaged from collisions with cars, but because the cyclists weren't hurt, no one ever hears about them, she said.
Her husband, Richard, co-owner of the bike shop said: "Close calls are kind of a daily thing for me. If you ride every day you're bound to run into one or two a day. I'm jaded to the whole experience."
Craig said she'd like to see Clark County build more bike paths to give leisure riders a safe place to ride. Off-road bike paths exist near Interstate 215 in Henderson and Summerlin. The plan is for the paths to eventually connect, but that won't happen until the construction of I-215 is complete.
archive
