Road Cycling · Public discussion

RAAM Tragedy

B. Lafferty · 2003-06-18T14:00:35+00:00

This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0041_01C33572.C03134E0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable From theis morning's VeloNews: RAAM rider killed in New Mexico This report filed June 18, 2003 A member of the Vail-Go Fast team contesting the Race Across America was = killed late Tuesday night outside of Pie Town, New Mexico.=20 The rider, whose name has not yet been released, was struck and killed = by an 18-wheel tractor trailer.=20 We expect a report from VeloNews reporter Steve Medcroft later this = morning as further details become available.=20 IIRC, this is the first major accident at RAAM since the Canadian = (name?) was hit by a truck in 1985 and the first death during RAAM. RIP = and lets hope this doesn't have a major negative impact on this race. ------=_NextPart_000_0041_01C33572.C03134E0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable From theis morning's = VeloNews: RAAM rider killed in New = Mexico This=20 report filed June 18, 2003 A member of the Vail-Go Fast team = contesting the=20 Race Across America was killed late Tuesday night outside of Pie Town, = New=20 Mexico. The rider, whose name has not yet been released, was = struck=20 and killed by an 18-wheel tractor trailer. We expect a report from VeloNews reporter Steve = Medcroft later=20 this morning as further details become available. IIRC, this is the first major = accident at RAAM=20 since the Canadian (name?) was hit by a truck in 1985 and the first = death during=20 RAAM. RIP and lets hope this doesn't have a major negative impact = on this=20 race. ------=_NextPart_000_0041_01C33572.C03134E0--

Started by B. Lafferty · 18 June 2003 · Last activity 19 June 2003 · 7 posts · 849 views

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01 / Original postRAAM TragedyB. Lafferty · 18 Jun 2003 02 / This pagePosts 1–7Page 1 of 1 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #7Anthony G Gough · 19 Jun 2003

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Original section: Road Cycling
Published: 18 June 2003
Last activity: 19 June 2003
Original author: B. Lafferty
Posts: 7
Discussion status: Public discussion
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Original post
B. Lafferty
Archived post

18 June 2003, 14:00 UTC #1

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From theis morning's VeloNews:
RAAM rider killed in New Mexico This report filed June 18, 2003 A member of the Vail-Go Fast team
contesting the Race Across America was = killed late Tuesday night outside of Pie Town, New
Mexico.=20
The rider, whose name has not yet been released, was struck and killed = by an 18-wheel tractor
trailer.=20
We expect a report from VeloNews reporter Steve Medcroft later this = morning as further details
become available.=20
IIRC, this is the first major accident at RAAM since the Canadian = (name?) was hit by a truck in
1985 and the first death during RAAM. RIP = and lets hope this doesn't have a major negative impact
on this race.
------=_NextPart_000_0041_01C33572.C03134E0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META
http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Dwindows-1252"> <META content=3D"MSHTML
6.00.2800.1170" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>From theis morning's = VeloNews:</FONT></DIV>
<DV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DVI><FONT size=3D2><STRONG>RAAM rider killed in New = Mexico<BR></STRONG>This=20 report filed
June 18, 2003<BR>A member of the Vail-Go Fast team = contesting the=20 Race Across America
was killed late Tuesday night outside of Pie Town, = New=20 Mexico. </FONT></DIV>
<DVII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DVIII><FONT size=3D2>The rider, whose name has not yet been released, was = struck=20 and killed by
an 18-wheel tractor trailer. </FONT></DIV>
<DIX><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DX><FONT size=3D2>We expect a report from VeloNews reporter Steve = Medcroft later=20 this
morning as further details become available. </FONT></DIV>
<DXI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXII><FONT color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>IIRC, this is the first major = accident at RAAM=20 since the
Canadian (name?) was hit by a truck in 1985 and the first = death during=20 RAAM. RIP
and lets hope this doesn't have a major negative impact = on this=20 race.</FONT></DIV>
<DXIII> </DIV></BODY></HTML>
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David Ryan
Archived post

18 June 2003, 21:00 UTC #2

cyclingnews.comnews
RAAM Competitor killed
The Race Across America (RAAM) suffered a terrible blow early Wednesday morning as racer Brett Malin
was struck and killed by a truck along US route 60 in New Mexico. The accident, which happened at
around 2:30am EST, marks the first fatality in the race's 21 year history. Malin, a member of
four-person Team Vail-Go Fast, reportedly was struck by the truck as it attempted to swerve to avoid
the collision, which was deemed an accident.
Brett Malin, a road cyclist from Vail, Colorado, was 30 years old.

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Psycholist
Archived post

18 June 2003, 21:00 UTC #3

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Here's the latest on the tragedy. I confess I jumped to the conclusion = that it must have been the
evil truck driver. I guess not. Tragic all = the same. My heart goes out to the victim, the family
AND to the = driver.
Bob C.
"A member of the Vail-Go Fast team contesting the Race Across America = was killed late Tuesday
night, outside of Pie Town, New Mexico.=20
Thirty-year-old Brett Malin, of Vail, Colorado, had just finished riding = a 30-mile stretch when he
was struck and killed by an 18-wheel tractor = trailer. Malin was part of a four-man team riding in
shifts across the = 2970-mile RAAM route.=20
VeloNews correspondent Steve Medcroft, who has been riding in the team's = support vehicle said the
team had divided duties between two shifts of = two riders, who would then trade-off 30-mile rides.
Malin finished his = 30-mile stretch at 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday and was relieved by teammate = Zach
Bigham.=20
As is the practice in RAAM, the team's pace car had continued on, = following Bigham. Malin was then
to have been picked up by the team's = follow vehicle. Malin apparently opted to turn around on the
road to = ride back to the follow vehicle instead of waiting.=20
According to Medcroft, Malin made the maneuver on a blind turn on the = empty highway and did not
hear or see the tractor-trailer approaching. = The driver of the truck swerved in an unsuccessful
attempt to avoid = striking the rider.=20
Emergency personnel arrived within 15 minutes, but Malin was declared = dead on the scene. "
"B. Lafferty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message =
"]news:[email hidden]... From theis morning's VeloNews:
RAAM rider killed in New Mexico This report filed June 18, 2003 A member of the Vail-Go Fast team
contesting the Race Across America = was killed late Tuesday night outside of Pie Town, New
Mexico.=20
The rider, whose name has not yet been released, was struck and killed = by an 18-wheel tractor
trailer.=20
We expect a report from VeloNews reporter Steve Medcroft later this = morning as further details
become available.=20
IIRC, this is the first major accident at RAAM since the Canadian = (name?) was hit by a truck in
1985 and the first death during RAAM. RIP = and lets hope this doesn't have a major negative
impact on this race.
------=_NextPart_000_000C_01C335B6.AAF663E0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META
http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Dwindows-1252"> <META content=3D"MSHTML
5.50.4522.1800" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Here's the latest on the tragedy. = I confess I=20 jumped
to the conclusion that it must have been the evil truck = driver. I=20 guess not.
Tragic all the same. My heart goes out to the = victim, the=20 family AND to the
driver.</FONT></DIV>
<DV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DVI><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Bob C.</FONT></DIV>
<DVII><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DVIII><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>
<P><FONT face=3D"Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=3D-1>"A = member of the=20 Vail-Go
Fast team contesting the Race Across America was killed late = Tuesday=20 night, outside of
Pie Town, New Mexico.</FONT> </P>
<Q><FONT face=3D"Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" = size=3D-1>Thirty-year-old=20 Brett
Malin, of Vail, Colorado, had just finished riding a 30-mile = stretch when=20 he was struck
and killed by an 18-wheel tractor trailer. Malin was part = of a=20 four-man team riding in
shifts across the 2970-mile RAAM route.</FONT> = </P>
<R><FONT face=3D"Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" = size=3D-1><I>VeloNews</I>=20
correspondent Steve Medcroft, who has been riding in the team's support = vehicle=20 said the
team had divided duties between two shifts of two riders, who = would=20 then trade-off
30-mile rides. Malin finished his 30-mile stretch at =
11:45 p.m.=20 on Tuesday and was relieved by teammate Zach Bigham.</FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=3D"Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=3D-1>As is = the practice=20 in
RAAM, the team's pace car had continued on, following Bigham. Malin = was then=20 to have
been picked up by the team's follow vehicle. Malin apparently = opted to=20 turn around on
the road to ride back to the follow vehicle instead of=20 waiting.</FONT> </P>
<Q><FONT face=3D"Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" = size=3D-1>According to=20 Medcroft,
Malin made the maneuver on a blind turn on the empty highway = and did=20 not hear or see the
tractor-trailer approaching. The driver of the truck = swerved=20 in an unsuccessful attempt
to avoid striking the rider.</FONT> </P>
<R><FONT face=3D"Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" = size=3D-1>Emergency=20 personnel
arrived within 15 minutes, but Malin was declared dead on the=20 scene.</FONT> <FONT
face=3DVerdana>"</FONT></P></FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=3Dltr=20
style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000
2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV>"B. Lafferty" <<A=20
=
href=3D""][email hidden]">AceptNoSubstitutes@hotmail= .com</A>>=20 wrote in
message <A=20
=
href=3D""]news:[email hidden]">new=
s:[email hidden]</A>...</DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>From theis morning's = VeloNews:</FONT></DIV>
<DV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DVI><FONT size=3D2><STRONG>RAAM rider killed in New = Mexico<BR></STRONG>This=20 report filed
June 18, 2003<BR>A member of the Vail-Go Fast team = contesting the=20 Race Across America
was killed late Tuesday night outside of Pie Town, = New=20 Mexico. </FONT></DIV>
<DVII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DVIII><FONT size=3D2>The rider, whose name has not yet been released, = was struck=20 and killed
by an 18-wheel tractor trailer. </FONT></DIV>
<DIX><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DX><FONT size=3D2>We expect a report from VeloNews reporter Steve = Medcroft=20 later this
morning as further details become available. </FONT></DIV>
<DXI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXII><FONT color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>IIRC, this is the first major = accident at RAAM=20 since
the Canadian (name?) was hit by a truck in 1985 and the first = death=20 during RAAM.
RIP and lets hope this doesn't have a major = negative impact=20 on this race.</FONT></DIV>
<DXIII> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
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David Ryan
Archived post

18 June 2003, 22:30 UTC #4

Quoted message said:
Malin was then to have been picked up by the team's follow vehicle. Malin apparently opted to turn
around on the road to ride back to the follow vehicle instead of waiting.
According to Medcroft, Malin made the maneuver on a blind turn on the empty highway and did not
hear or see the tractor-trailer approaching. The driver of the truck swerved in an unsuccessful
attempt to avoid striking the rider.
Even I have a problem blaming the driver. But I always default to blaming vehicles in general. But
the proximate cause appears to have been a tired or inexperienced rider.
As a frequent night rider alone, I was cognizant whenever the lights of approaching vehicles in
either direction hit the tops of trees or glowed in the night haze above and I avoided making any
moves possibly into its path, even edging further to the side of the road. An alert or experienced
night rider should have noticed that much even without hearing or seeing the vehicle directly.

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mapsno2
Archived post

18 June 2003, 23:20 UTC #5

Originally posted by Psycholist:
----------------------------------------
Quoted message said:
According to Medcroft, Malin made the maneuver on a blind
turn on the empty highway and did not hear or see the
tractor-trailer approaching. The driver of the truck swerved in
an unsuccessful attempt to avoid striking the rider.
Do you ever wonder where they come up with stuff like this? How on earth could they know what the rider saw or heard?
The rider may well have been tired and may well have been at fault. However, I'm always skeptical when I read stuff like this. I've never had a tractor-trailer sneak up on me without me hearing it a mile away and, given that the rider knows damned well he dies if he turns into traffic, I have a hard time believing he didn't look before turning (if indeed that's what he was doing at all). On the other hand, he was probably tired. But the point remains that this article is at best pure speculation.
CLB

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Kurgan Gringion
Archived post

19 June 2003, 00:00 UTC #6

"David Ryan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
Malin was then to have been picked up by the team's follow vehicle. Malin apparently opted to
turn around on the road to ride back to the follow vehicle instead of waiting.
According to Medcroft, Malin made the maneuver on a blind turn on the empty highway and did not
hear or see the tractor-trailer approaching. The driver of the truck swerved in an unsuccessful
attempt to avoid striking the rider.
Even I have a problem blaming the driver. But I always default to blaming vehicles in general. But
the proximate cause appears to have been a tired or inexperienced rider.
As a frequent night rider alone, I was cognizant whenever the lights of approaching vehicles in
either direction hit the tops of trees or glowed in the night haze above and I avoided making any
moves possibly into its path, even edging further to the side of the road. An alert or experienced
night rider should have noticed that much even without hearing or seeing the vehicle directly.
Such are the risks of riding with a sleep deficit.

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Anthony G Gough
Archived post

19 June 2003, 06:00 UTC #7

Read the article..... His father witnessed the accident. So while we may not know what he saw, we do
know what he did.
"mapsno2" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Originally posted by Psycholist:
----------------------------------------
Quoted message said:
According to Medcroft, Malin made the maneuver on a blind turn on the empty highway and did not
hear or see the tractor-trailer approaching. The driver of the truck swerved in an unsuccessful
attempt to avoid striking the rider.
Do you ever wonder where they come up with stuff like this? How on earth could they know what the
rider saw or heard?
The rider may well have been tired and may well have been at fault. However, I'm always skeptical
when I read stuff like this. I've never had a tractor-trailer sneak up on me without me hearing it
a mile away and, given that the rider knows damned well he dies if he turns into traffic, I have a
hard time believing he didn't look before turning (if indeed that's what he was doing at all). On
the other hand, he was probably tired. But the point remains that this article is at best pure
speculation.
CLB
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