Dunbar

Poor guy was killed during a charity ride. Not many details about what happened.

"Brewer, 34, was a senior policy adviser in the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House. The Washington Post reported Saturday that he was killed in Howard County, Maryland, during a bicycle ride that raised money to fight cancer. Brewer apparently lost control of his bicycle at a sharp curve along the race course, crossed the double yellow line and had a collision with an oncoming vehicle."

Obama staffer Jake Brewer killed in bicycle accident - CBS News

hotbike

You beat me to it:

Obama staffer Jake Brewer killed in bicycle accident - CBS News

hotbike

I had to search for another article, other than CBS:

The Patch:

Bicyclist Killed in Mount Airy Crash: Police | Eldersburg, MD Patch

indyfabz

It happens. A half dozen years ago or so someone died on the Lancaster Covered Bridge Ride in much the same way, although no vehicle was involved. Dude was apparently speeding down a hill, lost control at a curve and ended up in the parking lot of some hardware store after hitting one of those concrete stops you often find in parking lots. Broke his neck, IIRC.

Chris516

While I was doing the metric century(there was also 100, 54, and 30) of a local bike club's rides' this weekend. I was thinking about something like that happening on some of the downhill portions during the rides. Thankfully, No one was killed or hurt on any of the new course's.

Regardless of political opposites. May he rest in peace.

badrad

Very sad indeed. Young man with young family. Reminds me of this other charity ride a couple years ago, teenager killed during the annual ride to Conquer Cancer. Teen dies during Vancouver-to-Seattle Ride to Conquer Cancer | Seattle Bike Blog

JGM411

His wife is Mary Katharine Hamm a political commentator. They have one child and Mary Kathathrine is pregnant with their second child. Tragic loss

welshTerrier2

It's always so sad to hear these stories.

When they run the Boston Marathon, they close the roads to cars. Could this be done for charity rides and other races? I suppose it's asking too much but encouraging inexperienced cyclists onto open roads or even half-open roads in a competitive atmosphere seems like it's asking for these kinds of accidents.

This past May someone was killed in a nearby town during a local triathlon. Here's a link to the story.

Reports said the cyclist lost control of his bike while negotiating a sharp right-hand turn and entered an oncoming traffic lane where he was hit head-on by a truck.

Maybe roads need to be shut down while cyclists are racing on them. On longer rides, they could be shut down in stages. No matter what we do, there will always be risks; that shouldn't mean we can't do better.

Chris516

I hope his mother didn't see him at the time of the accident. Since she was participating in the same bike ride.

CrankyOne

He's the son-in-law of a friend of mine and far from being an inexperienced cyclist. Be careful of the assumptions that you make.

welshTerrier2

I did not assume that the cyclist referred to in the base article was inexperienced. My point was that many who participate in charity rides are inexperienced and that the risks increase when they race on open roads.

Dave Cutter

A tragic accident... very sad. Of course cycling has inherent dangers... as does life itself. The dangers involved in cycling are not high risk. Cycling as sport or transportation is relatively safe.

Every human alive today will die. We should attempt to prevent "needless" accidents.... but we can NOT prevent all accidents and we most certainly can NOT prevent death. IMHO.... society has already gone to the very edge of acceptable behavior modification.... in the name of safety. The sure-fire way of eliminating cycling deaths... is to outlaw cycling. And don't think some people haven't already thought of that.

welshTerrier2

You make a classic libertarian argument but something as simple as closing a road for an hour and setting up a detour for cars is hardly behavior modification or the tyranny of the state.

Must we grant cars unlimited access to every road for every minute even if the safety of those bike riding in a charity event is at greater risk by doing so? Roads are commonly closed for parades and festivals and all kinds of public events ... why not for charity bike rides?

Dave Cutter

Sure close roads for those SAFE and meaningful parades. But with all the wasteful death and serious injury caused in these group cycling events.... don't YOU think it would just make more sense to just ban such dangerous events?

Of course I don't. But I know many would love to see bicycles removed from public use.

StephenH

I don't see anything that implies that this was a race or competitive, and generally, fund-raising rides are not. (There are some exceptions to that.) If they had shut traffic down, they likely would have shut it down in his lane only, not the oncoming lane. Regardless, there's a bother and a cost involved in shutting down traffic, and it just depends on what the event is and who is willing to pay for it as to whether that happens.

badrad

The mother was behind her son at the time. She continues to ride this as an annual event in memory of her son and his goal of raising money to conquer cancer. Mom rides for son who died in last year's Ride to Conquer Cancer

scott967

This weekend is our annual century ride. Not a charity, but certainly not a race. The roads are closed for about the first 2 miles. By 5 miles it's already pretty strung out. No way to close the roads, unless you close them all day, which would also shut down the island. They do have police at intersections on the main drag.

scott s.
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Chris516

That is so sad.

B. Carfree

Someone who overcooks a curve and ends up in oncoming traffic is either:
1. Inexperienced
2. Carelessly casual with his life
3. The victim of a mechanical failure

Obviously, the first two are relative in nature. One person's inexperienced is another person's accomplished rider just as one person's careless rider is another person's stable and safe cyclist. I think it's fair to give the deceased the benefit of the doubt and, in the absence of evidence of a mechanical, assume it was his relative inexperience that led to his demise rather than his carelessness.

jimincalif

Very sad for him and his family, RIP.

He may have been a very experienced careful cyclist and just made a mistake. It happens.

kickstart

Even a person who is experienced, careful, and using sound equipment can simply make a mistake.

Nobody is perfect.....none of us.

SamHouston

Many charity rides do feature closed roads, even closed freeways. But the number and frequency of charity rides in most major metropolitan areas make closing roads for all or even most of them unfeasible.

I've been a ride marshal on open course & closed course events. There are predictable trade offs for both.

In live traffic rides where the only support is ride marshals and uniformed police at major intersections, riders seem to conduct themselves with good caution, especially since often these riders are people who either don't cycle at all except at such events, or don't cycle anywhere but parks n such.

In closed course events you get a few more people riding beyond their capabilities because of the sense of safety that a road with zero cars gives them. Needless to say you don't need a car to break your clavicle taking a corner at speeds well beyond what you are accustomed to.

Both sorts of events can be and are conducted safely for all. But anytime you get enough people together in one place, doesn't matter what they are doing, someone soon enough is injured or dies. Just how it is. May we all RIP

indyfabz

+1. Distance, too. The largest charity ride in this area is the MS 150. It's about 80 miles each way not including the extra century loop. The event has grown to over 7,000 riders. Closing all the roads to vehicular traffic would prevent countless people from driving away from their homes for long periods as the ride starts at 6:45 a.m. or so and the slowest people don't finish until around 5 p.m.. It would also shut down a pretty major road to and from certain shore communities, requiring a detour of dozens of miles. Accidents between participants and vehicles sometimes happen during the event, but they are exceedingly rare. There are far more accidents among cyclists.

tarwheel 

Even if the roads were closed, a rider could still hit a corner too fast, run off road and get seriously injured. It happens. I participated in a well-known ride in the mountains of NC some years back when one of the other riders was killed in precisely the same way. He went too fast coming down Pilot Mountain, couldn't stay in his lane (or crossed the yellow lane while passing others), and hit a vehicle in the other lane head-on. I was riding solo on a mountain road near Greenville, SC, and had a close call coming down a steep descent. I wasn't able to stay in my lane on a sharp curve, but fortunately there was traffic coming the other way. I learned my lesson, however, and I'm much more cautious now when riding in the mountains.

PatrickGSR94

Hated to hear about this, I believe I heard he was from Memphis.