The following is an excerpt from the Bike Iowa.org listserv:
Randy VanZee was struck and killed instantly by a vehicle from behind as he was riding west into the setting sun near his home last evening. It doesn't seem possible that yet another of our treasured friends could die so violently and senselessly. I'm sure we all recall his valiant spirit and kind heart so clearly demonstrated during his RAAM participation. I will personally miss Randy as will we all. The sport of UltraCycling lost one of its most valiant supporters.
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As I spend more time in the saddle and slowly find myself surrounded by more cyclists, I realize that the idea of getting hit by a car is not necessarily and "if" scenario, but more likely a "when" scenario. Just last summer as a friend was mountain biking in Colorado, his group came off a trailhead in Breckenridge and one rider was leveled by a car. It was this rider's first car/bike altercation on his mountain bike, and his second car/bike crash of the year.
A fellow Team Evil Cyclist nearly lost his life two years ago commuting home one night, and my ex-, another from the Evil camp suffers from the lingering effects of a car/bike commuter crash from five years ago. The stories pile up.
Bicycling Magazine frequently runs chilling accounts of fallen cyclists. This is one that profiles a few of the more than 7,000 killed this decade. While I am sure the VanZee family will likely seek comfort in the knowledge that Randy died doing something he loved, his death is a chilling reminder of the danger we all face each time we saddle up.
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