<HTML>On the afternoon of August 4th, rangers received a report of an injured bicyclist on the bike path near Housekeeping Camp in Yosemite Valley. Richard Mendoza, 37, had gone off the paved trail and over a drop-off, causing him to go headfirst over his handlebars and hit his head against a boulder. He was not wearing a helmet. Rangers were on scene within minutes of the accident and found Mendoza being held in a seated position by his friend. He was unresponsive and not breathing. Rangers immediately repositioned him to open his airway. Ranger Tom Wilson inserted an esophageal airway while other park medics packaged Mendoza to protect his spine. He was transported by NPS ambulance directly to a waiting air ambulance and flown to Doctor's Medical Center in Modesto, California, where he was last listed in serious condition with multiple cervical vertebrae fractures. [David Horne, Valley Shift Supervisor, YOSE]</HTML>
