A 49-year-old bike rider from Seattle was seriously injured on Saturday when he steered into a ditch to avoid being struck by a minivan on Redmond-Fall City Road (Route 202) near Ames Lake Road.

The Washington State Patrol is asking anyone who might have witnessed the incident to contact Detective Stacy Moate at 425-401-7746.

The injured man was among a group of 10 cyclists training for the Starbucks Racing Team, heading west on SR 202 at about 11:45 a.m.

Witnesses said the minivan was traveling eastbound at high speed and was being driven in an erratic fashion. It apparently crossed the center line to pass vehicles ahead of it, and veered almost all the way across the westbound lane, forcing the rider to crash his bike into a ditch to avoid being struck.

The man suffered serious injuries in the incident and was taken to Overlake Hospital in Bellevue for treatment. None of the other cyclists were hurt.