A dirt biker was airlifted to hospital in Victoria with serious injuries after he struck a tree while riding on a power line service road north of Ladysmith on Sunday. (File photo)

A dirt biker was airlifted to hospital in Victoria with serious injuries after he struck a tree while riding on a power line service road north of Ladysmith on Sunday. (File photo)

Dirt biker airlifted following crash on backroad north of Ladysmith

62-year-old suffered serious injuries when he lost control of bike and struck a tree in Cassidy

A 62-year-old man was airlifted to Victoria following a motorbike accident north of Ladysmith on Sunday night.

The crash happened on the power line service road near Timberlands Road in Cassidy after the man went for a night-timeride and lost control of the dirt bike.

Cranberry Volunteer Fire Department and B.C. Ambulance Service responded at about 9 p.m.

Ron Gueulette, Cranberry Volunteer Fire Department chief, said emergency responders had difficulty getting to the crash site, about half a kilometre south of Haslam Creek, because of the poor condition of the road.

“The potholes there are almost over your head … I got my rescue [truck] in there and the one ambulance couldn’t make one road, so the other ambulance came around the other way, but it’s getting so you probably couldn’t get emergency vehicles in there pretty soon,” Gueulette said.

He said he did not think alcohol or other impairment were factors in the crash, but that the rider lost control of the bike after encountering one of the deep potholes.

“It looks like he hit a pothole and it threw him into a tree … it’s pretty tragic, actually,” Gueulette said.

The rider was airlifted to Victoria General Hospital with serious injuries.

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Ladysmith Chronicle