GREENBURGH  – A 66-year-old town resident was killed Friday afternoon after his bicycle was struck by a Westchester County Bee-Line bus on Route 119 in the vicinity of Aqueduct Road, Greenburgh police Lt. Chris McNerney said.

The accident occurred at 3:30 p.m. as the bus, with passengers, was traveling east and hit the cyclist, who was believed to be crossing Route 119, also known as Tarrytown Road. The man was taken to the emergency room at White Plains Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. He was not identified pending notification of next of kin.

The driver was being questioned by police.

“He’s fully cooperating and he’s being interviewed by detectives at this time,” McNerney said.

McNerney could not yet answer some questions, such as whether the bicyclist was wearing a helmet, whether any other vehicles were involved and whether any laws were broken.

Reporter Hoa Nguyen is at the scene gathering more information. Please check back to www.LoHud.com and read tomorrow Journal News for more details about this tragic event. If anyone has information please email me at rkwolf@lohud.com .

At 10 a.m. Sunday, he’ll be in front of the Nyack Senior Building at 90 Depew Avenue holding mobile office hours.

Kavesh defeated fellow Village Trustee Denise Hogan on Tuesday and takes over the part-time post from retiring mayor John Shields in January.

According to his twitter account he loved his visit to Piermont. “Sitting at Bunbury’s Coffee Shop in Piermont, NY. Over the GW, River Road, 9W. Love it.” and like many cyclists he knows a good scone. “The cinnamon chip scone here in insane. And I’m a scone-ologist.”Lance posted.

He also told photographer Seth Harrison that he was surprised by how beautiful and challenging the ride was from the city to Piermont.He said this on Twitter, “Done riding. That out/back is one of the best in America.”

The two-time Tour de France runner-up, who announced last week he would leave the Silence-Lotto team at the end of the year, will join former Lance Armstrong teammate George Hincapie and former world champion Alessandro Ballan.

“Cadel brings a wealth of experience in the Grand Tours to the team,” team co-owner Jim Ochowicz said in a statement.

The 32-year-old Evans got the biggest win of his career in September when he won the men’s race at cycling’s road world championships.

Following a disappointing 30th place on this year’s Tour, Evans finished third in the Spanish Vuelta and now hopes he will be able to win the prestigious three-week race next summer.

“A great opportunity has come for me to join a growing team of like minded individuals at BMC,” Evans said. “I look forward to working with the BMC group toward the same goals including the Tour de France. Obviously, I would like to do better than my two second places at the Tour de France.”

BMC Racing, however, doesn’t have a Pro Tour licence that would guarantee its participation at the Tour and the team will need to get an invitation from organizers to feature in the race.

“We have a plan to go to the biggest races, including the Grand Tours,” sports director John Lelangue said. “That includes the Tour de France. This will be possible since our sporting level has greatly increased in standard.”

In addition to placing second in the Tour in 2007 and 2008, Evans was runner-up in the past three Dauphine Libere stage races.

(eds note: BMC has taken a bold step for next year with signing some top level talent in George Hincapie, Alessandro Ballan and Karsten Kroon. They have no guarantee they will be invited to the Tour, Cadel could be watching it on TV. )

Seth knew he had to get some photos and talk with Lance. He knew he’d be in trouble with the boss if he didn’t!

Lance was in New York City for a LiveStrong fundraiser at Sotheby’s where a number of his custom bikes with designs created by famous artists were auctioned off last night.Some of the bikes were ridden in this year’s Tour de France.

According to CyclingNews.com 1.25 million was raised to fight cancer. Click here for their story.

To bad he missed the Rocket Ride yesterday.

Lance finished his coffee and cinnamon scone before he and his friend Bart Knaggs headed back down Peirmont Aveune to the city.

Did any readers spot him this morning on your training rides? Let us know.

“We were having some issues with fatal bicycle collisions in the area,” California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer Adrian Quintero says. “A lot of the issues we were having were bicyclists under the influence crossing over the center (line) and being struck.”

CHP officers last week charged seven bicyclists with riding under the influence during a one-night crackdown in Sacramento. But California is not the only state watching for wobbly bicyclists.

Most states require bike riders to follow the rules of the road same as car drivers, according to the League of American Bicyclists, which supports enforcement.

“My first thought would be, ‘I’m sure glad they’re riding a bike and not driving a car,’ ” says K.C. Butler, executive director of the California Bicycle Coalition.

Butler wonders whether police need to mount an intense effort to snare drunken riders as in California, where drunken riding is considered so significant that the highway patrol received a state-federal grant to enforce traffic laws for bicyclists in the Sacramento area.

After all, Butler says, he has often gone home on a bicycle after having a few drinks.

“I could have been a candidate many times,” he says.

In California, riding while under the influence is punishable by up to a $250 fine, according to the highway patrol. But the money is only part of the punishment. A rider caught drunk is arrested and must remain in a jail cell until he sobers up. The arrest becomes part of a criminal record, though it does not affect one’s driving record or insurance. A rider may dispute the assessment by asking for a breath, blood or urine test.

Quintero says officers look for equipment violations, too, just as they would for stopped cars.

“A lot of bicyclists don’t understand they are obligated in California to stop (at stop signs and signals), signal turning movements, drive in the same direction of traffic,” Quintero says. They also must have lights after dark and rear reflectors at all times, he says.

Rather than setting up roadblocks, Quintero says police cruise streets looking for bicycles (and cars) being driven erratically or in a way that suggested impairment, such as weaving or crossing a center line.

When asked whether this was an effective use of police time, Quintero says absolutely.

“You can have severe injuries and or death when you have bicyclists” collide with cars, he says. “When we get these individuals off the streets, we’re also protecting the community.”

Andy Clarke, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists, agrees.

“We want to have the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicle operators,” he says. “If this is a documented public safety issue . . . it’s absolutely legitimate for police to be cracking down on it.”

Aaron Bouplon rides his bike near Boulder, Colo. on Wednesday morning Oct. 28, 2009 during the first major snowstorm of the season. (AP Photo/The Daily Camera, Marty Caivano)

Today Carmel removed concrete barriers that had blocked parking along the shoulder of Willow Road.  The town board heard from neighbors this area and had dicussed banning parking along Willow Road, but 25 cyclists and pedestrians turned out at a public meeting in September to speak on the value of the Trailway and helped change the minds of the town’s board.

Last night the county legislature reversed an earlier vote to abandon a parking lot across the street from Bikeway and next to the Trailway at Route 6 and Mount Hope Road. Bikeway’s is the only bike shop in Putnam County. The county had planned to stop work on the parking lot after residents objected to the construction of the lot. The alliance helped fight this back in September as well pointing out that the county had already spent $640,000 on the project. This parking lot serves both the Trailway on weekends and Croton Falls train station commuters through the week. The WPBWA argued that grants from the federal and state governments would cover all of the costs and stopping the project would waste local tax dollars.

For more information check back on LoHud.com or read Mike Risinit’s story in Thursday’s Journal News.

Jerry took me to Nyack Bicycle Outfitters back in the early 1980s where Jim Skelley set me up with a Bianchi. I spent the next couple of years chasing him and occasionally some of his racing buddies around. I never caught them.

I lost touch with Jerry and was saddened to read his obituary, written by his brother Michael, also a member of the local cycling community. I have included it below in case some fellow riders might have missed it.

Jerry Pagano, 54, of Silver City, New Mexico passed away on September 30, 2009. Jerry was born in the Bronx, NY, raised in Tappan and lived for varying amounts of time in Iowa, Vermont, Florida, California and finally New Mexico. He completed an 8 year stint behind the wheel of a NYC Taxi before becoming an accomplished cabinet maker and carpenter; Jerry also wrote poetry and short stories during his college career at Rockland Community College and University of Iowa. Jerry’s passions included a love of the outdoor, eating, cooking, and eating some more but his greatest pleasure was when he was on the road riding his bicycle. In younger years Jerry competed for the Century Road Club of America and Onion River Sports. Of late he supported Silver City, NM bicycle races as a driver for race officials and VIPs in The Tour of the Gila and as a race marshal for both The Tour of the Gila and Signal Peak Challenge. He was a regular on the Nyack Rocket in the 80’s and 90’s and whenever in town to visit family; he extended his love of cycling to brother Michael who carries on the passion still. Jerry is predeceased by his father Michael and mother Tootsie. He is survived by his partner of 13 years Carolyn Smith and dog Satchmo both of Silver City, brothers Joe (Julie) of Grand Rapids, Michigan and Michael (Mary) of Stony Point, New York as well as his nieces and nephews; Nichole, Tyler, Taylor, Christopher and Katherine along with many aunts, uncles and cousins. A Memorial Service will be held in Silver City on October 31, 2009 at the Church of Harmony at 5 P.M. A memorial bike ride to honor Jerry’s life will take place Sunday morning, November 1, 2009 at 10 A.M.