Trade industry publication Bicycle Retailer and Industry News is reporting that Chad Peterson, Chief Operating Officer and Product Director for mountain bike maker Intense has died following a crash on Labor Day.
Unfortunately, no details are available. It’s not known at this time if he was injured while riding offroad, which seems most likely, or in some other way.
He moved to Intense nearly six years ago, following stops at Patagonia, Brooks England, Selle Royal and Crankbrothers.
He leaves behind his wife of 20 years, as well as two sons, the oldest of whom is a recent Marine Corp recruit.
This is how the company’s press release summed up their loss, concluding with Peterson’s favorite quote.
Chad’s strong spirit will live on in our memories,” stated Jeff Steber, INTENSE founder and CEO. “He lived his life INTENSE and his drive for cycling inspired the majority of the bikes created since his arrival. There is no person that represents INTENSE For Life in a better way than Chad has. He felt like our Superman here—always invincible—and his passing will continue to not seem real.
“It’s all OK in the end. If it is not OK, it is not the end!”
This is at least the 46th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year.
It’s unclear at this time if Peterson was injured while riding in Orange County or Riverside County; it would either be the eighth bicycling death in Orange County, or the seventh in Riverside.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Chad Peterson and all his family and loved ones.
The crash comes barely over 24 hours after Frank Mendez messaged to say he witnessed the aftermath of another crash just half a mile away at 92nd and Compton, suggesting a major safety problem on the street; fortunately, the victim did not appear to be seriously injured in that collision.
This is at least the 45th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 19th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the ninth in the City of Los Angeles.
At least six of those deaths in the county have resulted in hit-and-runs, half of which occurred below the 10 Freeway.
Tuesday at the El Dorado Race Series in Long Beach.
We are deeply saddened to report that our friend and colleague Gerry Gutierrez passed away earlier today.
We know that everyone in our community is saddened at this incredible loss and want to give heart felt condolences to his wife, Stephanie, to his entire family and his many many friends. He truly was a very special member of our community and a beloved family man.
When available we will post any information on a memorial and a location where people can post their condolences and comments about this wonderful and much loved man.
Then there was this in an email from Allyson Vought.
Sadly, Gerry had a crash in the Masters race on the first lap at El Dorado her in Long Beach for reasons yet to be revealed and he never regained consciousness.
I and many others had the great pleasure to know Gerry from our group rides together, and he was a great rider with a warm and engaging soul. His Pop’s, Gerry Gutierrez Sr. was a racer from the 90’s at Eldo as well, and had JUST returned to riding from much prompting from Jr.
According to Gerry Gutierrez’ Facebook page, he lived in Downey and worked as physical education teacher in Beverly Hills.
Gutierrez posted this from the previous week’s El Dorado race on Facebook.
It was his final post.
Unfortunately, no other information is available at this time. Hopefully, we’ll get more details soon.
This is at least the 44th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 18th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Gerry Gutierrez and all his family and loved ones.
Thanks to Allyson Vought and Danny Gamboa for the heads-up.
The reports indicate the victim, identified by friends as Jeff Jones, was killed when the driver of a white van made a U-turn in front of him.
No time was given for the crash. However, he was supposed to meet a friend at 1 pm, but never arrived. The email I received came shortly after that.
A friend of the victim confirms it was Jones’ bike in the photo.
There’s another vehicle visible at the scene with damage to the right rear quarter panel, which may or may not have been involved in some way.
(Note: I’m not posting the photo here. Family members inevitably read these stories, and can find images of a crash scene very disturbing. If you want to see the photo, which doesn’t show much more that the bike and van, you can click through to it here.)
I’m told Jones was in his mid-50s, and a father. Whose children will now spend the rest of their lives without him.
Photo of Jeff Jones by Josh C.
More information and official confirmation when it becomes available.
This is at least the 43rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 17th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the ninth in the City of Los Angeles.
Update: The Eastsider has confirmed the details of the crash with a detective with the LAPD’s Central Traffic Division. The driver stayed at the scene and was cooperating with investigators. T
He was found on the shoulder of the road by a passerby, who called police at 1:10 am; no word on how long he’d been there before being discovered.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the paper, he was on his way home, riding west on Mission, when he was somehow struck by a cowardly hit-and-run driver, who left him there to die.
They found it had major front end damage matching the evidence at the crash scene, while the driver, 31-year old Ontario resident Julio Tapia, was still inside with minor head and face injuries.
He was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI, hit-and-run, and gross vehicular manslaughter.
If there was any real justice, he’d be charged with second degree murder for making a conscious decision to leave the victim of his hit-and-run to die there in the street, rather than calling for help as the law and basic human decency demands.
Assuming he was actually capable of making a decision, and wasn’t so drunk he had no idea what the hell just happened.
He’s being held on a quarter-million dollar bond pending arraignment on Friday.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Ontario Police Department at 909/986-6711 or Officer Brandon Resendez at 909/408-1805.
This is at least the 42nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in San Bernardino County.
Update: The victim has been identified as 22-year old Pomona resident Thomas Shane Pinto.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Thomas Shane Pinto and his loved ones.
This is why you need to carry ID with you when you ride.
Yes, every time.
According to the Orange County Register, authorities have struggled to identify a man who was killed riding his bike in Las Flores early this afternoon.
The victim, who investigators believe was in his 30s, was riding on westbound Oso Parkway near Antonio Parkway, between Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita, when he was struck by the driver of a pickup around 1:45 pm Monday.
Sheriff’s deputies found the victim sprawled on Oso Parkway, dead on arrival.
The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. He is not suspected of being under the influence.
There’s no word on how the collision may have occurred, though the severity of the crash implies high speed.
According to the description, he was killed when the pickup driver pulled out of a gas station without looking.
Which means I was wrong in assuming that speed was a factor. Although it’s still questionable whether a helmet would have helped in this instance, if Valdez really was run over by the truck as his sister writes.
As of this writing, the GoFundMe page has raised nearly $17,000 of the $20,000 goal.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Pablo Valdez and his loved ones.
Then fled the scene without stopping. Or apparently giving a damn.
The couple were riding on Jefferson Boulevard at Denker Avenue in Expo Park around 10:30 pm when the victim was struck by a speeding driver headed west on Jefferson.
The man, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died a short time later.
His girlfriend was uninjured, though the trauma of watching someone she cared about get killed right in front of her last a lifetime.
A street view shows a four lane street with left turn bays, and no bike lanes or any other form of infrastructure or protection for people on bicycles.
Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD South Traffic Division Detective Flannery or Officer Pollard at 323/421-2500. As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.
Hopefully that will be enough to bring this coward to justice.
This is at least the 40th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 16th I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the eighth in the City of Los Angeles.
Update: A friend of the victim, who remains unidentified publicly, tells me was almost home when he was killed.
There’s no explanation given for why the victim was riding in the traffic lane, as opposed to the paved shoulder. Or whether he was riding in the center of the lane, or hugging the white line at the edge of the road.
The driver remained at the scene, and was not suspected of being under the influence.
Anyone with information is urged to call CHP office in Ventura at 805/662-2640.
This is at least the 39th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third I’m aware of in Ventura County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
Although something tells me the families and loved ones of the victims are pretty damn distraught, too.
The victims were riding in a marked bike lane when the driver pulled out of a San Jose strip mall parking lot and slammed into them yesterday morning; somehow going fast enough to cause life-threatening injuries to two people, despite just leaving the lot.
“Any time you’re exiting a parking lot, you have yield to pedestrian, vehicle traffic, as well as bicycles. So, the bicyclists would have the right of way because they were already in the roadway traveling southbound on Vistapark,” said Gena Tepoorten of the San Jose Police Department. “She was exiting a parking lot, we know, when this happened.”
Particularly since parking lots are usually controlled with either a stop sign or stop light, suggesting she had to speed through one or the other to cause that much harm.
Now he’s off on his latest adventure, a three and a half month bikepacking journey that will take him up to Seattle, down the left coast to Tijuana, and back up to Colorado, hitting a number of national and state parks along the way.
Not to mention a brief layover at BikinginLA world headquarters in Hollywood.
New record: Largest human image of a bicycle, Congrats to all 2,620 cycling enthusiasts in Moscow, Russian Federation who came together to form an enormous bicycle as the sun set yesterday at Saint Basil's Cathedral. pic.twitter.com/Ipgs4W11rl
— Pedal and Tring Tring (@pedalandtring) July 15, 2019
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on.
F. Lehnerz forwards video of a road raging driver who brake checked a group of bike riders, then got out of his car to scream at them for the crime of not riding their bikes the way he thought they should. Unfortunately, no word on where this took place.
No one is using Aspen, Colorado’s new $20,000 bike lockers, even though they rent for just $40 a season and have been moved to other locations to draw more interest. For 40 bucks, I’ll take one if they’ll move it to Los Angeles. Or move me to Aspen.
An older Boulder CO bike rider wants to know what happened to the formerly common bike courtesy of calling out “On your left!” when passing another rider or pedestrian. Good question, although I’ve found “Passing on your left” to be more effective. But whether you use your voice or a bell, some sort of audible warning should be given.
Shreveport police are looking for a car that fled the scene after striking a kid on a bicycle, since it apparently didn’t have a driver. Thanks again to F. Lehnerz for the tip.
A British neurosurgeon says skip the helmet, arguing that bike helmets are too flimsy and ineffective to do any good, and may encourage risky behavior. He also says people look at him like he’s mad when he rides in his cowboy hat and boots. Which is understandable, considering the relative lack of actual cowboys in the UK.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
There’s no explanation for why he left the road, and no apparent witnesses. The first word of the crash came with reports of a man down in the parking lot.
It’s possible he may have swerved to avoid a pothole or a close pass, suffered a mechanical problem, or simply lost control for some unknown reason.
Hopefully someone, somewhere, saw what happened and can shed light on the crash.
Anyone with information is urged to call Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Francis Avila of the Palm Desert Station’s Traffic Team at 760/836-1600.
This is at least the 38th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth I’m aware of in Riverside County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
