Ironman cyclist hurt after hitting State Police vehicle
WILMINGTON — An Ironman triathlete was injured when he collided with a State Police vehicle while competing on his bicycle Sunday.
According to State Police, it was about noon, and Technical Sgt. Brian Goetz was driving a marked patrol vehicle south on Bilhuber Road, north of Route 86 in the town of Wilmington, as triathletes rode their bikes the opposite way in the other lane. Goetz was driving slowly with the vehicle’s emergency lights activated, police reported. Trooper Jennifer Fleishman was a passenger in the front seat.
“As the vehicle rounded a sharp, uphill right turn, an Ironman competitor, Alain Aubuchon, 59, of Brossard, Quebec, was traveling north on his bicycle in the southbound lane, in violation of race regulations,” State Police said in a press release.
Police said Goetz tried to avoid Aubuchon but was unable to, and the cyclist hit the police vehicle’s passenger side.
An ambulance took Aubuchon to Elizabethtown Community Hospital, where he was treated for a cut thumb and numerous scrapes and later released.