Richard Cranium

A good long distance rider and friend of mine went down to day.

JD, of Cape Girardeau, MO - rest in peace.

I wish I would have had one last chance to ride with you, but the Spring weather wasn't cooperating.

I was riding with JD the day I was struck by a car on Nov 1, 2009. JD had decided that he wasn't up for the mileage earlier in the day and turned back to town, four hours later I was hit by a 79 year - and most likely he would have been on my wheel and struck as well. He was lucky that day.

He was very cautious rider, but he had little or no mountain road riding experience lately. I just wonder if altitude had anything to do with it. More info.

k7baixo

Sorry for the loss of your friend.

oban_kobi

As am I. It's hard to loose friends.

Richard Cranium

I've spoke with his wife - and the cause of this accident is a mystery at this time. He had been coming down the pass along with her, they were exchanging places on the road and just generally enjoying the view, cruising down at speeds around 35 to 40mph.

I'm bummed. JD was never anyone to run a yellow light, or take a corner too fast - there were not that many cyclists around so i don't know if there was an eye witness. His wife had gone ahead, and never knew anything happened until she was contacted by officials.

JD - was a lifetime member of the UMCA - he has qualified for Paris Breast Paris and had won a medal at a 200 mile JMO event. Even at 67, he often commuted to work. He was a structural steel engineer and loved all the technical aspects of bicycles and bicycling.

I hate the "downer" side of accidents and bicycling just like anyone else, and hate to see this kind of news. Please don't let it bring you down, but it is just so weird.

Homeyba

Bummer indeed. My best wishes to his family.

It could truly just be an accident. I was coming down off of Carson Pass in CA. one year and watched a young lady in front of me get so entranced with the scenery that she didn't pay attention to the road and rode right off onto the shoulder. Crashed the bike and flattened one of those steel snowplow poles. She was lucky to ride away with only some bruised ribs and ego...

Richard Cranium

I hear that.

This incident reminds of Bob Breedlove's accident. I've ridden with both of them, and they were the last people in the world to take chances. Both were on very easy stretches of road with relatively easy turning radius. His wife said there was nothing at all about the conditions to make descending hard.

This was route US 24 - big and wide and upgraded over the years.......

Homeyba

Speaking of Breedlove, are you going to be hanging out along the RAAM route near St Luis later this week? I'll be coming through with the Solo riders.

bradtx

From a rider on the RtR:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...f-RtR-Fatality

Brad

valygrl

R.C. - sorry for the loss of your friend.

Richard Cranium

I may make the Washington checkpoint - plus I looked at the route and I know exactly where the "1000 miles to go point is" and that is a "ride-able area" in St Charles County Missouri.....

I spent 45 minutes on the phone - trying to get details from the Eagle County Sheriff's office and Colorado Highway Patrol - boy did that suck. it seem the "responding agency officers" may actually be assigned to the ride and they're to busy to respond for a police report...... Hmmmmm 2011 in America - great stuff.....

Dean7

Man I hope I go down like this. I don't want to diminish the fact that the world has lost one of it's finest, but this guy is a role model that we should all follow (or not and keep biking 'till we are 100 if we can!). I bet he would want me to be positive and keep biking as well, so I will.

(and in all realness I just shed a tear for him)

Homeyba

[QUOTE=Richard Cranium;12804446]I may make the Washington checkpoint - plus I looked at the route and I know exactly where the "1000 miles to go point is" and that is a "ride-able area" in St Charles County Missouri.....QUOTE]

Let me know as we get closer if you're going to make it. I'm not sure where the 1000 miles to go mark is exactly. I know it's in the route book somewhere. Guess I could pick it up and look. Did you crew for Danny Chew at one point? He's out on the course this year with his 20yr old nephew. How'd you like to have Danny watching over you...

Richard Cranium

Sounds like the beginning of horror movie... Ahh - I don't know there's good - even in Danny Chew....

Jim DeBlois will have services Tuesday, June 21st - I am a pall bearer and will miss the entire RAAM Entourage... Of some note - Jim DeBLois and I first rode together in June, 1983 at the Central States Double Century and 24 hour attempts in Litchfield Illinois. Over the years he attended various St Louis based events. As mentioned - he was a lifetime UMCA member, a PBP qualifer and all around bike geek.

Most recently - even at the age of 64 - he attended, and with my help, posted a 13 hour double century at the Metamora 4x50 timed double century.
At the age of 65, he and his wife, along with myself performed a 5:22 century - one of the fastest centuries of his life..... a month later I was hit by a car while riding the last two mile stretch of a century I had started from his home in Cape Girardeau. He and wife played a pivotal role in my recovery.

Jim had produced many of the maps for some really premium riding areas in both Southern Missouri and Illinois. Jim and his wife opened their home to cyclo-tourists quite often - and some of my best rides of the last decade have been "door-to-door" from my home in St Louis to theirs in Cape Girardeau.

Jim had had a physical in February and at this time the best rumored "guess" about the cause of his accident is that either an object or strap managed to fall out of his seat pack bag as he was grabbing a snack. Somehow his back wheel locked-up into a skid and he crashed hard with very little warning or attempt to brace for the fall.

Jim will be missed.

Homeyba

Danny seems to be behaving himself so far. I think he is trying to groom his nephew to be the next Danny Chew. They are at the back of the pack but Danny doesn't seem care that he's at the back of the pack. I think he just wants to get him to the finish this year and maybe a be competitive later on.


Too bad we'll miss you. You have more important things to attend to. Wish Jim and his family the best from us out here on RAAM we're thinking of them.

Richard Cranium

There was some confusion concerning J D's accident due to multiple incidents. One rider did go down because of a 'jacket' - but Jim D crashed on the edge of the road - most likely because of carelessness - touched the edge of the pavement -steered back into it and went down hard - he was still clipped in - and "bled out" on the edge of the pavement. No more will ever be known - but at least we know he was not "hit" nor did he suffer.

Thread to be deleted in a day or two.

Homeyba

How you doing RC??? That's a tough thing to lose a buddy like that...