Classic & Vintage - Seattle's cycling community has lost a friend

I opened my email this morning and was very saddened to read this:

Dear Friends,

It is with great sadness in my heart that I bring this news to you.

My dear, dear friend Val Kleitz died yesterday, August 10th, 2011.
He was 51 years young. He was born on June 8th, 1960
He worked for years on Sundays at my shop and turned one corner into The Bikesmith, his old shop in Wallingford.

He died of cancer. As many of you know, he was battling it. The end was peaceful for him. He was surrounded by his family.

There will be a wake soon and I will let ya'll know time and place.

I am dedicating the next (and all following) Cargo Bike Ride(s) to Val. He and I started the first Seattle Cargo Bike ride during Bike Summer 2005. In that time Val only missed a couple of rides and most just recently. Val loved the utiltiy aspect of bicycles.
The next Cargo Ride is this Labor Day, September 5th. Meet at 20/20 Cycle on Capitol Hill
More info: http://www.rideyourbike.com/possie2011.shtml

--
Sincerely,
Aaron Goss
President & Master Mechanic

Aaron's Bicycle Repair, Inc.
6527 California Avenue SW
Seattle, WA 98136

I first met Val at the Wallingford "Bikesmith" shop way back in 2001. He had an appreciation for all kinds of bikes and his specialty was most definitely utility-related two-wheeled conveyances. He'd been battling cancer for the past two years. I last saw him at the Expo in February where he seemed to be in remission or perhaps even recovery. In any case, he seemed in very good spirits - and that's the way I will remember him.

I only ever saw him mad once: when he was describing to me how the treatment was going and how sometimes it would seem to be working and others it would not. A more calm, self-assured and friendly person you were not likely to meet. And he had a 'stache that rivals Tom's... A wonderful human being; a sad loss.

Val's bio:

http://www.rideyourbike.com/valsbio.shtml

Val, in his element:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5209/5211244589_964edd866f_b.jpg


I'm going for a ride now...

DD

RIP Val.

Though I never met you, your life obviously touched others.

And, how can you have not liked a man who put this in his bio.

Abandoned at an early age in outer Mongolia, Val was raised by a band of feral dogs. Later in life he became fascinated by the labyrinths below Constantinople, and attempted to circumnavigate the globe on pogo stick. His dream of becoming a truffle sniffer was destroyed by a cocoa butter allergy acquired during a race to the North Pole under the ice cap, and he turned instead to bicycle repair. He has been known to subsist on peanut butter, coffee beans, and honey, and his mother wears combat boots.