West Andrea knows all too well the perils of urban bike-riding. Andrea was struck by a vehicle last week near the downtown Target store, as evidenced by healing scabs on his legs.

Andrea, of St. Louis Park, was on his bicycle at about 10 a.m. Thursday near Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis, when he heard a "big boom, a big smash" at the intersection of West Calhoun Parkway and West Lake Street. Before him was another bicyclist, dead after being struck by a school bus. As of Thursday evening, authorities were having difficulty identifying the victim and made a plea to the public for help. The Hennepin County medical examiner's office described him as white man, 20 to 40 years old, 5 feet 10 and about 200 pounds, with dark brown medium-length hair and brown eyes.

He was riding a blue Giant Cypress bicycle and was wearing jean shorts, a black T-shirt that read "LBJ Wolves whatever it takes," socks and shoes. No helmet belonging to the victim was found, the medical examiner's office said. Anyone with information about the man is asked to call 612-215-6300.

The athletic teams at LBJ High School in Laredo, Texas, are called the Wolves and school principal Oscar Perez, said Thursday that each summer, a handful of young people head from Laredo to northern states, often with their families, to work for the summer.

Perez and a school district police officer said that the "whatever it takes" slogan was used within the last couple of years at the high school.

Late Thursday, Laredo officials called the Hennepin County medical examiner's investigators, seeking a photo and other details that might help them identify the victim.

Crash under investigation

Police said no tickets have been issued, although the accident remains under investigation. The name of the bus driver, who was not hurt, was not released Thursday evening.

The bus, operated by Laidlaw Education Services of Brooklyn Park, had no children aboard.

"The Laidlaw school bus was northbound on Calhoun Parkway at Lake Street, stopped at a red light," said Minneapolis police Sgt. Tammy Diedrich. "The light turned green, and he pulled into the intersection to make a left turn. The bike rider was southbound on Dean Parkway, and he was going to cross Lake Street on Calhoun Parkway."

The bicyclist and the bus collided in the intersection, and the bicyclist died at the scene, she said.

Laidlaw branch manager Kurt Schumann said: "We come here every morning doing everything we can possibly do to forestall, prevent, avoid having to face a very sad day like today. Our hearts and thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family of the young man on the bicycle and the driver of the bus."

At the time of the crash, the bus driver had made his final morning dropoff at Carondelet Catholic School in southwest Minneapolis and was heading for the company's Brooklyn Park garage, Schumann said.

The driver was put on leave during the investigation. He was being questioned about the accident, and tested for drug and alcohol use, which is standard procedure.

The driver has been with Laidlaw two years and had nothing in his record to indicate a safety risk, Schumann said.

"The only positive thing that can come out of something like this is learning how to prevent it so it never happens again," Schumann said, adding that before making a hire, Laidlaw drivers go through 20 hours of classroom training and as many as 20 hours of behind-the-wheel training.

Laidlaw, with 160 drivers serving 145 school bus routes, serves Minneapolis students, as well as special-needs students in Robbinsdale, Osseo and the Northwest Integrated School District.

In 2006 in Minnesota, there were 625 crashes involving school buses, the state Office of Traffic Safety reported. Five of those involved bicycles.