A collision involving a motorcyclist and a bicyclist shut down a portion of Santiago Canyon Road for about five hours Saturday.
The accident took place about 11:30 a.m., near the Modjeska Grade Road.The 50-year-old cyclist was taken by helicopter to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana with serious injuries.
The motorcyclist was taken to Mission Hospital, also with severe injuries.
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The severity of the crash caused the Orange County Sheriff's Department's major accident reconstruction team to respond, which resulted in the northbound lane being closed at 11:57 a.m., 30 minutes after the initial 9-1-1 call.
The cyclist was not riding in a peloton, but was instead riding behind his son, according to OCSD Lt. Joe Balicki. "Initially, we thought it was going to be a double fatality," he said, though he indicated at 4:30 p.m. that both men were still alive.
The incident took place about a mile north of Cook's Corner, which is popular with motorcyclists.
