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Bicyclist dies after tumble near bridge

A Largo man was dead hours before he was found. Police say alcohol may have been a factor in the accident.

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published August 26, 2005

CLEARWATER - A bicyclist died early Thursday after apparently losing control of his mountain bike after going downhill off the new Memorial Causeway Bridge, police said.

Roy H. Twedt was dead for hours before he was found Thursday morning on a grassy embankment off the causeway, police said.

His 21-speed mountain bike lay beside him. His bike had no headlight. He wore no helmet.

Twedt, 55, of 1654 N Clearwater-Largo Road in Largo had been dead for six or seven hours before passers-by on an early-morning walk found him at about 7 a.m., police spokesman Wayne Shelor said. He said the Clearwater Fire & Rescue declared Twedt dead at the scene.

Twedt was riding west down the Memorial Causeway on the sidewalk on the south side of the bridge, police said. At the bottom of the bridge, Twedt successfully rode through the first curve in the sidewalk which curved left, Shelor said.

But Twedt didn't make the second turn which curved right. He lost control of the bike and tumbled into the left embankment. The embankment curves down and away from the sidewalk, meaning that passing motorists might not have been able to see Twedt. Shelor said authorities do not know how fast Twedt was going.

Alcohol is suspected to be a contributing factor in the accident, Shelor said.

Authorities will not release an exact cause of death until an autopsy is done but Shelor said Twedt died from injuries resulting from the accident.

Authorities do not yet know whether Twedt died immediately.

Twedt's death is the city's 14th traffic fatality this year.

Times researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report.

[Last modified August 26, 2005, 01:36:21]