Sleeper derails cyclist

A cyclist in Australia's Northern Territory broke his arm and needed stitches in his chin and hand after he hit - at full tilt - a man sleeping on a bike path in the dark.

Demolition supervisor Kris Sharpe was cycling on the track from his home in Woolner, when he hit the man at 5.25am. "He was wearing black clothes, he had black skin, and he was on black bitumen," he said.



Mr Sharpe, 40, said his mountain bike had lights but he was riding without a helmet when he ran into the man near the Parap water tower. "I hit him at terminal velocity. Flat stick," he said. "I didn't have time to take my hands off the handlebars.

"My chin hit the ground. He was a big bloke. He screeched and it scared me." Mr Sharpe's mates took him to hospital where he was treated for the broken left arm and needed six stitches in his chin and one in each knuckle on his right hand. The sleeping man ran away. Mr Sharpe said he did not know if he was injured.