Rider Down Hard On Silverado Rd at Modjeska

Just came back from riding Harding and found a Chopper blocking the intersection of Modjeska Canyon and Santiago. I back tracked to Modjeska Grade and saw a very mangled mountain bike in the middle of Santiago. There were dozens of fire, police, CHP, etc. After the chopper left, I was able to get home by going north via Tustin. It appears that the biker collided with a motorcycle while crossing over to Modjeska Grade. I was told that both riders (MTB and motorcycle) were in very critical condition. It breaks my heart to think that somebody went out for a relaxing morning of mountain biking and is now fighting for his life. Prayers for both.

 

Horrible time for both of them! Hope these guys pull through....

 

Very sad to see another accident on Santiago Road. It was located at Santiago Road and Modjeska Road. This is the road that you turn on to head up to the luge.

Road was blocked and nobody could go through as it was classified as a crime scene. Looked like an Enduro type of motorcycle and a MTber. Stuff all over the road at that intersection.

All the roadies got stopped and we could not go through and had to either ride back to Jamboree or Road/Hike a bike up through Whiting. This is what i did. Tough Hike with road shoes and the heat...... Figured I should not be such a wuss as the fellow mtber is going through much worse.

Prayers go out the both and hope we all learn from the mishap.

I ride both road and mtb. And I ride the canyon with several groups. Always ride smart and never trust those cars traveling at 50+ miles an hour. I always ride more defensive now. The days of being a renegade are over.

Ride Smart and Safe.

 

I'm guessing the guy on the moto was out for a relaxing ride as well and not expecting someone to be riding across the road where you're not supposed to. I ride mountain bikes and motos too and have crossed that road many times. It's safer to go down a bit further and not cross so close to the corner. But sadly I saw someone posted on Facebook the mountain bike rider died. Hope the moto rider pulls through.

Sorry for the misinformation everyone. A friend of mine was told this while trying to get past the sight on a road bike. Hope all involver make a full recovery.

 

Thanks for the pixs, Mingo1 and for correctly pointing out that it is Santiago Rd (where did I get Silverado?). Very very sad to hear that the MTBer died. My prayers for the family and for the motorcyclist. Heartbreaking!

 

Very sorry to hear of the death of the Mtb Rider.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk (sucks)

 

I was able to get through after they got the roadblocks up. When I got to the crime scene, I just hopped the fence on the north side of the road and followed the dirt road past where the tape was set up.

Accident was right at the intersection of Modjeska and Santiago (or at least that's where the bike came to rest).

The bike was completely mangled. Didn't see the moto.

 

That road has taken the lives of so many riders. Very sad news. Just be safe out there and be alert at all times.

 

Pat, that looks like the proper crossing area, where the left turn lane is, or am I looking at it backward? I have to wonder how fast the moto was going, too. The only person I've seen do the speed limit was on a road bike motor-pacing (this includes mtb'ers on their way to a ride, with the bike attached to the back of the car).

 

Motorcycles fly down that road. When I had my Harley I was definately guilt of speeding down satiago coming home from a ride. What a tragic accident.

 

Only thing I could find at this point:

http://ranchosantamargarita.patch.com/articles/motorcyclist-biker-collide-in-serious-condition

 

I don't know what kind of moto it was but if it was a dual sport like mine maybe 60 - 65. And you know I ride mountain bikes too Wrecker but technicly if it's a double yellow like you're not supposed to cross. I always hate crossing there when leaving Whiting. As for where the bike and moto came to rest they could have crossed further up. A moto going 60 plus can slide a long way on pavement. He had to have heard the moto too, unless he had music going.

 

Pat, the first pic looks like the left turn lane section, not the double yellow--I'm not one of THOSE roadies (hell, I haven't even been on the road bike for more than a year). I wasn't sure if this was the area with the left turn and he was properly turning, or if I'm looking at it backwards. There is a turn lane at the actual street.

I was thinking the same thing about hearing the moto though. I can understand missing it visually, but I would think you'd hear it. Of course, I know many people who don't have great hearing (though I thought it was only when I talked).

Whatever happened, a tragic accident for sure.

 

The picture actually looks more like the turn going toward Harding, not Modjeska grade going up to the Luge? To my knowledge, there is not left turn arrow heading up Modjeska toward the Luge.

 

accident

No, this is not Modjeska Grade. That has no left turn lane. I believe its farther up the road where the accident to place.

 

The street sign on the right of the picture says "Mojeska". I am pretty sure it is the turn toward Harding, Mojeska goes all the way around and has two entrances.

 

I used to make that turn a bunch coming out from Modjeska grade on my road bike and it's really a wide open turn where you can see real far away in both directions. I always considered that the safest place to cross, but vehicles do come up fast even if you do see them so you've gotta move. Stay safe out there everyone.

 

I rode up to where the photo was taken of the helicopter and watched as he was airlifted out of the canyon today. That was the northern entrance to Mojeska where you can drive/ride back to Harding with out having to go up the grade. The accident occurred at the Mojeska grade entrance a little further south... they brought the rider to this spot via the ambulance because this is where the helicopter was able to land.

Once he was airlifted out, several of us riders were able to ride further up the road, but we were stopped a couple hundred feet from the accident site. The motorcycle was about 50 yards further down from where they collided on the right side of Santiago Canyon Rd. (headed south / downhill) and the bike was an absolutely mangled mess sitting in the middle of the other lane (coming north / uphill) just in front of the Mojeska Grade - where you would climb to the entrance of STT / Luge. The bike alone was a very sad site to see and you could tell that the outcome was not going to be good. The Sheriff and CHP would not let us through the road because they had classified it as a crime scene, for whatever that is worth. By this time, there were about 6 or 7 cyclist (MTB and Roadies) who were told to turn around and ride out of the canyon or ride / hike out through Whiting.

Letting the officers do their job, I was happy to oblige by turning around and going out by way of Whiting - needed to be home by now and didn't have time to ride another 30 miles. Missing my mountain bike at this time, I took my road bike back up through the Whiting entrance off Santiago - first and last time riding Cyclocross style! Nothing like bouncing down Cactus on a nice 14.5 pound road bike with Di2 and carbon wheels in a full road kit. Caught quite a few funny looks! I promised the MTB'ers that I just road down Cactus yesterday much more gracefully and a heck of a lot faster!

All joking aside, my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved. This thread mentioned that the MTB rider passed away, but I haven't seen confirmation anywhere else (yet). That said, I will still pray for the best possible outcome.

 

if that link is correct, that's great news - it says at 4:30 both were alive? so maybe the mtb did not die in the crash? I sure hope not - praying for them both!

 

very sad story, I ride up that road all the time to STT, hope everyone makes it out of this accident gotta be so cautious when dealing with high speed high traffic road like Santiago canyon.