MASON CITY – A man laid on the gravelly Mason City sidewalk next to the busy roadway, clutching his back and ribs, groaning in pain as he struggled to his feet after he was slammed to the ground by a rogue power line blocking his path.
The incident took place on the morning of Thursday, July 5, at the 100 block of 6th Street SW in Mason City. Much of the area is under construction at this time and at some locations, large, orange power lines protrude far out of the ground. At this particular point on 6th Street SW, a large orange power line sticks out of the ground 5-6 feet and bends over the entire sidewalk, forcing those who encounter it to duck or go around it. Directly below the power line are two large water mains that protrude from the ground about 2 feet.
On this particular day, a gentleman was on his way to work (a foreign concept to many locals) on his bicycle and traveling on the sidewalk. He later explained that the roadway was very congested and he didn’t feel safe as there are no bike paths and drivers are aggressive. So, he chose the sidewalk to ride. He didn’t see the orange power line as he rode along, carrying his toolbox.
Boom. He struck the unforgiving orange power line and was thrown to the ground. He landed on the protruding water mains. (NIT is aware that City leaders have been warned about the dangerous water mains, but the issue has been ignored.) Scattered about was his tools and his toolbox, along with his blue bicycle. The man laid on the sidewalk, clutching his back and ribs, groaning.
“Are you alright?” the man, who declined to give his name, was asked.
“Well, not really, but I’ll be OK,” he responded, later saying he was not injured. He explained to a concerned citizen and property owner how he got where he was. The fellow struggled to his feet, still bent over in pain, and collected his tools and toolbox. He slowly began to push his bike, limping gingerly westward on the cracked, weedy Mason City sidewalk.
A nearby Mason City property owner, Matt Marquardt, who encountered the injured man, weighed in on the incident, saying, “There are children riding bikes on these sidewalks everyday, whether it is legal or not,” Marquardt said. “Pedestrians, night joggers, the elderly, drug addicts, you name it. Our neighbors, fellow citizens, folks that live here. Someone’s gonna get seriously injured, and we might not have enough money to pay the bills after recklessly throwing at least a million dollars at a goofy hotel project that is sucking us all dry. I only wish City Hall and a few of the incompetents there – like Mayor Bill Schickel and his greedy downtown bosses – would deal with our infrastructure issues and stop ignoring the blight in our sprawling neighborhoods. The citizens deserve better than this.”
In traffic during rush hour.
…if this story didn’t “smell” so bad, it would be…and is …laughable!
This is the most ridiculously written story I have seen. Why is he riding his bike on the sidewalk?
Probably so the dim-witted texting drivers do not run him over on the extremely narrow roadway, but that’s just a guess.
WHAT THE HELL?
It is a marked construction zone.
Should the contractor have left it like this, no. Should the bike rider been better aware of his surroundings, yes.
If he would have dropped 2-3 blocks South he could ride all the way from South Carolina Ave. to Tractor Supply and avoid the road construction.
Reminds me of the wheelchair bound Mill’s Fleet Farm guy. Trying to make something (lawsuit?) out of his lack of common sense.
Doesnt seem anything like the Fleet Farm gold digger. The guy just got double-unlucky: first not paying attention and getting smacked up by that thing-ma-jig, and then Matt happen to see it from his place and, since nothing else is going out, rushing out to take a zillion photos and write a “story” on it.
For the rest of us its somewhat of a feel-good-story because, as the saying goes, no news is good news.
You are probably right, wrong place wrong time and a unfortunate accident. He didn’t pop up after falling and start yelling LAWSUIT and have his lawyer on speed dial.
Still a little common sense on his part would have went a long way.
You talking to ME! The Antifia raging bullchiter who is antifia’s knock out artist ? Oh me -oh my.
Bob De Niro would have BLAMED IT ON TRUMP ! Enough said!
… and Matt blames it on City Hall because they won’t “deal with our infrastructure issues”, never mind the fact that’s EXACTLY what they’re doing and what caused this mishap in the first place 🙂
Hwy 122 work is a state project. The water mains are on city property. This specific area is not marked as a construction zone.
Doh! Thats right, you got me there! 🙂
NOT the Place to B “
Really ? what do you expect when it comes to public controlled – common sense usually goes out the window – glad I gurgetated from the no clilld left behind crowd.
Seems to me, this person took the unsafe course in trying to ride a bike through a construction zone, on uneven terrain, carrying a heavy case of tools with one hand, and operating a bike with the other. But, that was his choice.
There were two other choices that held less risk or no risk at all.
One was to ride on the south side of the street, where the only impediment was at Adams, where a hazard was marked with a cone. The rest of the sidewalks between Connecticut and Monroe are intact.
However, the safest course by far was to make the trip in a vehicle, even for hire. This way, he did not have to balance a case of tools, and avoided the construction hazards altogether.
One other note, the two pipes sticking out of the ground are water service valves, there is no water in them. Why they were installed them that way, I cannot speak to. Every building in the City has them, and they are installed by contractors and maintained by the property owners.
orange is natural gas not electricity. in the pic it is clearly visible, why didn’t he see it?? probably did and thought this is a way to get some free money
only an idiot would try and blame anyone other than the bicyclist for this.
Who in the heck wrote this garbage article?
“gingerly limping”…Bwaahaaa.
“rogue power line”…Bwaahaaa.
Sounds more like someone is butt-hurt against the Mason City government after losing two in city council elections.
I mean seriously, how bad do you have to be to lose an election to an idiot like Janet Solberg, the most inept & and stupid person to ever have sat on the MC city council.
He was just looking for the bag of pot that he lost there a few days ago, and didn’t see the orange line sticking out of the ground.
Several things appear to be obvious here; a) the man has never been on this sidewalk before or else he would have known about the extremely dangerous, life threatening condition of the lack of sidewalk. b) the poor soul must have laid there quit some time in order to have his photo taken picking up his bicycle. I do wonder if the person taking the photo, tried to warn this poor soul about the treacherous conditions that lay ahead or the perils this person was about to face. c) it appears this gentleman’s injuries were far more severe than he indicated as it looks as though all of his teeth were knocked out as a result of his terrible misfortunes.
I wonder if NIT could find out what the city said about this incident when they were notified of it?
Pulitzer Prize Winning non story. Man falls off bike. Slow news day.
He didn’t just fall he was “thrown” to the ground.
Matt, Come on man, how long are you going to be eating those sour grapes? Please show more of the weedy sidewalk. I’m having trouble seeing what you are trying to make a mountain out of.
It is not exactly invisible. In a construction zone also. Maybe some extra care is needed when in those areas. Have to say it, but most adults I see riding bikes to work is because of owi with a car.
There are no barricades or warning devices to tell anyone there is construction in the area. They are liable and should be held responsible.
Really need a sign for this? Anyone can see it is a work zone. Did they do a breathalyzer? Bet he wouldn’t pass, but bikes are immune from traffic laws. Oh yea, he just decided to be a pedestrian.
Kind of reminds me of Cleo.
So, you have decided to attack the injured person instead of the company that created the danger.
YES, because of NO common sense. The only danger there, is all self inflicted. Would you step on a bouncing betty if you saw one?
There is no injured person. Just a guy who fell of his bike outside of Matt’s house. Next.
Could have been at the south of the border law -placetobe !
OMG that looks like a disaster waiting to happen! When does the city anticipate having that section of sidewalk fixed and do they have a sidewalk closed sign up at all?!