I could just cry.
Late this morning, AIDS/Lifecycle confirmed rumors that one of the participants in the 545-mile San Francisco to Los Angeles ride died after an apparent fall at the conclusion of the ride.
According to the group, Glen Brown, an experienced bicyclist and a first-time participant in the fundraising ride, was killed in a single-bike crash.
According to Streets For All’s Michael Schneider, it happened on the 800 block of North Ogden, in LA’s Fairfax District, which likely means Brown was riding home after finishing the ride.
There’s no word yet on what may have caused him to fall, or what injuries he may have suffered.
This is the second death associated with the ride in Los Angeles in less than 60 days. Five-time ride participant Andrew Jelmert was killed by an alleged speeding, DUI driver on Crystal Springs Drive in Griffith Park at the conclusion of an April AIDS/Lifecycle training ride.
The AIDS/Lifecycle ride is a fundraiser for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Los Angeles LGBT Center, who appear to be blameless in both of these tragedies.
It raised over $17 million for the two groups this year.
This is at least the 41st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 15th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County. It’s also the eighth in the City of Los Angeles.
And a sad reminder that things like this can happen to even the most experienced riders, and the best among us.
Correction: I originally wrote that the ride was 450 miles, rather than the actual distance of 545 miles.
Update: I’ve learned that Glen Brown wasn’t riding home after the end of the AIDS/Lifecycle ride, after all.
According to an email from Bryan J. Blumberg, the last few blocks of the final day’s route took riders east on Santa Monica Blvd, then turned right on Ogden Drive for 4 blocks before entering Fairfax High School, where the ride ended.
Tragically, after 545 miles, Brown died just a block and a half from the finish.
Blumberg also forwarded an email from AIDS/LifeCycle Ride Director Tracy Evans, who reports that Brown, who came out from Chicago for the ride, was rushed to Cedars Sinai, where he died of his injuries.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Glen Brown and his loved ones.
Thanks to Zoe Kurland and Bryan J. Blumberg for the heads-up.
— AIDS/LifeCycle (@AIDSLifeCycle) June 12, 2022
The AIDS LifeCycle bike ride finished at Fairfax High School yesterday, so the 800 block of N Ogden is on the way to the finish line. So terrible.
Word is that he hit a speed bump and his handlebars collapsed. Some part of the handlebar assembly punctured his leg and he bled to death on the way of the hospital.
And this is a guy who had put his life back together after some harrowing struggles.
Speed bumps: a third-world “solution” that destroys our streets to pander to NIMBYs.