Alpine, NJ–By Jen Benepe
The 55-year old female cyclist who died Friday after crashing on Alpine Hill, a downhill on a popular bike route along the Hudson, is said to be Magaly Flores Maquis Anabalan, according to several of her friends and acquaintances.
Anabalan is originally from Chile, and was more recently a resident of Jackson Heights, Queens in New York City.
Comments to an article posted on NorthJersey.com from several of her friends identified the victim as Ms. Anabalan, though that information was not confirmed by police nor by the Hackensack Hospital where the cyclist was taken.
At about 3:34 PM on Friday, officers of the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Dept responded to the Alpine Hill area of Henry Hudson Drive on a reported unconscious bicyclist.
First arriving officers and EMS located a female, unresponsive and with an obvious arm injury. Due to the cyclist’s condition and remote location a Medevac was requested.
The cyclist was later flown to Hackensack University Medical Center in serious condition. It was determined that she had run off the road, fallen off her bike and received injuries to her head and arm. She later died from “complications,” said a statement from the Palisades Park Police.
No reason was given for the bicyclist’s crash, and police say it is still being investigated.
In a photo dated Sept. 5, 2012, Ms. Anabalan is seen on her Facebook site wearing a helmet, though Palisades Police have not indicated whether she was wearing a helmet at the time she was found on Friday.
According to a statement from the Palisades’ police, the “current investigation leads to accidental circumstances.”
Last year the Palisades Interstate Park Commission was able to raise enough funds to repave the Alpine Hill which is a steep climb from the Alpine Boat Basin to the top of the Palisades. Those fixes removed potholes and other road variegations, but the road is still fairly steep with an approximate 7 to 8 percent grade in portions of its 1.2 mile climb.
The road is also shared with motorist traffic: Drivers often travel well above the park’s 25 mph speed limit.
