Cyclist extricated from washout on KVR trail in South Okanagan

PENTICTON – A cyclist travelling a portion of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail in the West Bench area is fortunate others were using the trail this morning.

Penticton Fire Department deputy chief Chris Forster says firefighters were called to the section of rail trail running through West Bench around 9:30 a.m. today, Nov. 6, following reports of a cyclist stuck in a hole.

A few minutes previously another trail user had come across a bike lying on the trail, and finding it odd, did some investigating.

A washout was located nearby and at the bottom was a large hole in which a man’s feet could be seen sticking out.

The passerby had managed to extricate the man from the hole by the time firefighters arrived.

Firefighters used a UTV to get the 70-year-old back to the trail, where an ambulance transported the man to hospital with undisclosed injuries.

Forster said it appeared the cyclist struck a washed out portion of the trail, fell off his bike and tumbled into the hole which was located at the bottom of the wash out.

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