Bicyclist, 99, still in critical condition

Noaki Schwartz & Alex Coolman

A bicyclist injured in a traffic accident Wednesday was identified as

99-year-old Newport Beach resident Thomas Alfred Blakely.

Blakely, who suffered serious head injuries in a collision with a car, is

listed in critical condition. He is being treated in the acute care unit

of Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

Friends back at the Westcliff community where Blakely lives were very

concerned about their elderly neighbor, who has lived alone since his

wife died more than a year ago.

His pink house sat lonely with daily newspapers piling up on his front

porch -- the only sign that something was not quite right. Otherwise, the

driveway was swept clean, with trash cans stacked neatly against the

home.

Neighbors described him as a kindly, private and methodical man who stuck

to a daily routine of walking at 7:30 a.m. every day and riding his

bicycle.

“He adores the little kids around the neighborhood,” said friend Heather

Keller.

Blakely was hit Wednesday morning while riding his bicycle through a

crosswalk at the intersection of Buckingham Lane and Westcliff Drive in

Newport Beach. Blakely flew into the windshield of the car and, according

to a police report, was not wearing a helmet.

The driver of the vehicle, 78-year-old Irvine resident Charles Froessel,

said he was unable to stop the car in time to avoid the accident.

Blakely, a retired college professor, spends part of each day reading

newspapers in the lobby of the Union Bank of California on Westcliff

Drive, neighbors said.

He would park his bike out in front, sit on the couch and pass the hours

by the window as customers strolled in and out. One neighbor surmised

that the accident probably happened on the way to or from the bank.