HOLLIDAYSBURG - A court decision issued Wednesday by Blair County Judge Tim Sullivan may help the Tour de 'Toona get up and moving once again. But for the young female athlete paralyzed because of an accident in the 2005 race, it represents the beginning of yet another court struggle.

Sarah Scott, 31, was a planner who took bicycle racing seriously enough to train hard and to enter many races, but her quest to move up in her sport came to an end July 29, 2005, as she was traveling with a pack of racers along a 19.5-mile loop around Martinsburg Borough.

Going around a corner at Sportsman Road onto Route 866, she moved to the outside of the pack and went off the paved portion of the highway.

Her bike landed in a 3-foot-deep ditch, fracturing her back and paralyzing her from the sternum down.

She sued the Tour de 'Toona, the Altoona Bicycle Club and its president, Larry Bilotto, the US Cycling Federation, PennDOT and Huston Township.

Sullivan dismissed her lawsuit Wednesday, emphasizing in his 30-page opinion that Scott had signed two releases prior to the race assuming the risks and agreeing not to sue in the event of injury.

Her attorney, Marcy L. Colkitt of Indiana, had argued before Sullivan six weeks ago that the agreement not to sue did not absolve the organizers of the bicycle race of "reckless conduct," noting that they knew of the dangerous ditch but did nothing to protect the cyclists, such as placing hay bales in front of it.

The judge responded by ruling there was "nothing ambiguous" about the language included in the releases.

They "clearly set forth, in layman's terms, the USA Cycling, and all other releases ... were released from any and all liability for damages and injury that may arise out of a USA Cycling event, which would include specifically the Tour de 'Toona," the judge stated.

The Tour de 'Toona will not be held this year, partly because of the poor economy and the subsequent lack of sponsors.

Bilotto said the Scott lawsuit was also a factor.

"We look at this [the judge's decision] as a positive direction for the race," Bilotto said. "Hopefully, the sponsorships will return."

Sullivan's decision, however, is not the end of the lawsuit, Colkitt said. She said they will appeal to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, the beginning of another step in the court process that could take a year or more.

Attorney Robert Behling of Pittsburgh, representing the race organizers, said he was pleased with the ruling and said he thought the lawsuit "had a chilling effect" on the municipalities and possibly some sponsors' involvement.

"This is certainly a ruling we worked to get," he said.

Sullivan, Behling and others expressed sympathy for what happened to Scott.

The judge called it a "most unfortunate and tragic accident," but he said he had to decide the case based on "applicable legal principles."

Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.