Another cyclist gone...

[Crankin]

I just got an email that a rider from the group I ride with was hit by a car and killed yesterday. He had ridden to the start of the ride and left the lunch stop to ride home by himself. This has really shaken me. Both he and his wife are kind of role models for DH and I. He was a 74 year old still practicing physician and a very experienced rider. Not someone I stayed away from on the group rides (as opposed to some). The newspaper clip that was attached to the email said that he was hit by a car going in the same direction and there was no implication of speed, alcohol, or drugs. It's a quiet-ish but not dead country road that is very popular for riders (according to my DH, as I haven't ridden there). The police are trying to reconstruct what happened...

[redrhodie]

Oh, that's so sad. (((Crankin)))

[SheFly]

Crankin' - so sorry to hear this! Do you know where it happened? I haven't seen anything in the news. Is there anything I can do?

SheFly

[warneral]

what a tragedy :(

[zoom-zoom]

Oh...so sorry. :(

[spokewench]

So sad, it is really hard to deal with this kind of grief.

[OakLeaf]

Oh, man. I'm so sorry. :(

It's on my mind a lot lately anyway because the trial is going on now, of the guy who killed a local ride leader at 6 am after partying all night. Typically, the paper is playing up the defense's evidence and arguments. :(

[Crankin]

Thanks, everyone. I kind of felt guilty that I felt so badly this morning; even dealing with my dad's recent (but not really life threatening) illness from 3,000 miles away didn't upset me as much. I swear it was probably on Saturday that we were discussing that we wanted to be just like this man and his wife "when we grow up."
SheFly, it happened on Rt. 115 in Millis. The lunch stop was in Dover center and he was riding home to Wellesley. I have no further information yet.
Here is the news clip that I was sent.


http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/archive/x1664572350/Wellesley-man-struck-killed-while-riding-his-bicycle-in-Millis#ixzz1I8uwIA2J

[sgf726]

Sad and Scary - I know one of the people who was riding with him before they seperated.

[lawnchick22]

Tragic!

[PamNY]

Crankin, I'm so sorry. This is just tragic.

[redrhodie]

Wow, the driver has actually been charged with motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation. Good for MA. I'm really sick of our lives being taken without any charges filed.

[Crankin]

I am just guessing, but I am betting the driver just ran right into him in a lapse of attention. I have ridden behind this man countless times and I can't imagine him doing anything dangerous.

[ladyicon]

I am so sorry for you and the families loss. :(:(

[oz rider]

Condolences to all affected Crankin.


Wow, the driver has actually been charged with motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation. Good for MA. I'm really sick of our lives being taken without any charges filed.
+1. We had one recently where a car hit two cyclists, killing one, and the driver escaped jail (http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/news/local/news/general/no-jail-time-for-lockhart-driver-who-killed-cyclist/2099328.aspx)cos it was a 'lapse in judgement'. Fed up with this attitude from drivers and courts.

[Geonz]

I know how this hurts; I lost a friend at the beginning of March, horribly similar deal... wide open country road, she and her husband experienced riders on a tandem (she was blind) with flags and banners and a trailer in the back... gone is such a permanent word.
(Here... our state's attorney will probably charge the driver with a petty misdemeanor -- failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. I'm afraid that absolutely everything our state's attorney says, does, and doesn't would be indicative that she sincerely believes bicyclists should stay off the roads.)
It pisses me off. If the nice people who really didn't mean any harm and gosh, don't we feel *sorry* for them because they have to live wiht this ... are going to run me off the road, they *do* have to do it literally, because Cindy and David didn't have a choice-- their disabilities meant that bike was their way everywhere. And it's more bicycles out there that will make it safer. I am hoping to figure out how to make rear air bags for bicycles -- especially if they'll permanently take out the car that gets too close to them...

[Crankin]

More information about the kind of person he was.

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/wellesley/2011/03/wellesley_bicyclist_killed_in.html

[Deborajen]

Crankin, I'm so sorry. What a terrible loss.

[emily_in_nc]

Damn, that's so sad and tragic. I am so sorry for you, his other friends, his family, his patients, and colleagues. Too many good people die on our roads.

We lost a remarkable cyclist and friend a few years ago, actually in a car accident, but it hit me really hard as he was someone I so admired and who had been so kind to me after my cycling accident. He had also encouraged and helped me with my cycling when we road with a club.

This also scares me b/c my DH rides LOTS of solo miles, and losing him this way is my biggest fear. I don't worry nearly as much about myself, but when he's out there alone, even though he's a great bike handler and very experienced, that doesn't keep something like this from happening. So many drivers are distracted and just don't see us.

I can't wait to escape to Belize. Where we'll be, the number of motor vehicles is a small fraction of in the US per capita. Most vehicles are golf carts and bicycles. After losing my dad in a car accident, I've really grown to loathe cars. :mad: :(

[shootingstar]

When will drivers be at least thrown in a jail for a few years if they are responsible for a cyclist's death? I know, radical. But there has to be a stiffer penalty.

Otherwise it's like hitting a tree on someone's private property.

[OakLeaf]

I'm starting to sound like a broken record on this issue, but the problem isn't the penalty, it's the difficulty of proof. Vehicular homicide needs to be a strict liability offense just like all other traffic offenses. The minute they kill someone, drivers are absolved of their ordinary duty to be responsible for the operation of their vehicles, and instead, prosecutors must prove (depending on the state) at a minimum negligence, sometimes as much as recklessness.

IOW, it's easier - far easier - to convict someone of hitting a tree, than to convict them of running over a cyclist, or another motorist. That's BS in my book.

[smilingcat]

Hi Crankin,

My condolence to everyone in his family, to all his friends and to you and your husband. Life is precious and no matter how old we are and to die unexpectedly in such unfortunate circumstances, it doesn't make it any easier. To say that he had a wonderful full life, is to lessen the hurt we all feel. But it doesn't take away your pain.

The gentleman was gracious, giving, and compassionate soul. And no amount of words can express the sorrow his friends he touched and people he touched.

Understand too that you will have lots of strong emotions: sorrow, anger, emptiness... Be kind to yourself. This is all part of grieving. It just means that you really cared for the person.

peace be with you,

Smilingcat

[azfiddle]

So sorry for the loss of your cycling friend. There is no making sense of this kind of tragic situation...

[Crankin]

Emily, I used to obsess about my DH riding, too, when he commutes to work. There's a lot of traffic when he rides home and at the peak of the season, there are a lot of cyclists out there and people get a little crazy. But, at a certain point, I stopped because, as was said, there's nothing you can do.
The funeral is today; I am not going, although I might go to the Shiva later in the weekend. I really didn't know him that well, despite the fact I have ridden with him so many times. The group I ride with is quite unique-- a part of a regular club, but with weekly rides at a "moderate" pace, always with a lunch/social/ historical focus. Some of these people have been riding (and skiing, running, hiking) together for 25 years. Quite a few of them have run the Boston Marathon together, many times. I have been riding with them for about 5 years and I am one of the younger people who rides with this group. There's a group of very fit guys and a few women who ride with this group, who often split off and do a longer or faster ride and then meet up with the original group. Last year, I was able to hang on to the back of this pack, which, for me, was no small accomplishment. I got connected with these people when one of the members of the group (another 65 year old+ physician) came to a ride that I ended up leading without my DH, as he was having some medical issues. The first ride I did with them was super hilly, and I ended up being behind the leader on most of the climbs. It was the first time I ever rode with others who had the same attitude toward cycling that I do.

[Crankin]

Here's one more article that says it all about the victim.

http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/police_and_fire/x583205707/Crash-victim-remembered-as-consummate-physician

[TrekTheKaty]

So sorry to hear about your loss, Crankin. My sympathies to you, the club and his family.