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Cyclist injured by tape strung across Victoria road

CBC Radio associate producer Sterling Eyford is nursing a broken jaw and other injuries after he was knocked off his bike when he hit black electrical tape strung across Kings Road.
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Monday: Sterling Eyford in bed at home after he was ripped from his bicycle by tape strung across the road resulting in a broken jaw and other injuries.

CBC Radio associate producer Sterling Eyford is nursing a broken jaw and other injuries after he was knocked off his bike when he hit black electrical tape strung across Kings Road.

“I fractured my jaw in two spots,” said the 34-year-old Eyford, whose jaw was reset with five plates and 16 screws. The tape was strung across Kings near Prior Street, said Eyford, who was on his way to a 5:30 a.m. on-air shift at CBC Victoria’s On the Island show at the time of the crash Friday. He said he thinks the tape, which was strung diagonally rather than straight across the road, caught his bike just above the front wheel.

He said he saw something across the road in the dark seconds before making contact, but couldn’t stop.

“I was about three minutes from work,” Eyford said. “The first thought I had after I hit the road was ‘Can I make it to work?’ ”

He said he called work first, then the ambulance and police.

Victoria police Const. Mike Russell said it’s unclear why the tape was there. Police took a look around the area but little evidence has turned up so far.

“We don’t want to speculate that they were targeting cyclists or if it was a practical joke,” Russell said. “It’s impossible to tell right now if it was something set for a car — a prank on a car — or if it was set for a cyclist.”

A similar incident in early June saw a mountain biker injured by a rusty wire strung across a trail near Durrance Lake. The mountain biker stopped before making full contact, but was left with a cut across his neck. Saanich police said at the time that the wire could have been a remnant of long-ago logging activity.

After Friday’s crash, Eyford said he knew immediately that his jaw was broken. “I was thrown off the bike and landed on my face. I really did take it on the chin first. It took the whole of the impact.”

He also hyperextended his neck, just short of doing much more serious damage.

As someone who talks for a living, Eyford expects to be on the sidelines for at least a month.

Despite his injuries, he considers himself lucky.

“I could be dead,” he said. “I could easily be dead.”

jwbell@timescolonist.com