Bicyclist killed by SUV was participant in 'Tour Da Chicago'

Such a loss.

I only hope that the comments stay respectful.

My heart goes out to Matt's family, the driver and their family and all the people that witnessed it. Some many lives have been effected and changed because of this.
And yes hopefully the comments keep with a respectful tone.

a harrowing experience. having been at the scene, i can't describe what it meant for this to happen. i only hope Matt's wife and family are coping as best as possible.
...and that people are respectful in their comments here too.

The Cyclist

(dedicated to Matthew Manger-Lynch)

Broken and bruised, you soughed
where you didn't belong.
Movement became imperative,
but acquiescence, ready to be
solaced with a Solemn Interlude,
brought the cogency of Requiem.
Maintain'd by Tremendous Gleam,
somnolent sonance awaits
for the Mystical Bequest
of Somatic Accentuation.
by
Robert Louis Rawind

P.S. My love to Matthew & his family.

Rawind wrote:

The Cyclist
(dedicated to Matthew Manger-Lynch)
Broken and bruised, you soughed
where you didn't belong.
Movement became imperative,
but acquiescence, ready to be
solaced with a Solemn Interlude,
brought the cogency of Requiem.
Maintain'd by Tremendous Gleam,
somnolent sonance awaits
for the Mystical Bequest
of Somatic Accentuation.
by
Robert Louis Rawind
P.S. My love to Matthew & his family.

Nice. Kind of reminds me of Dylan Thomas.

RIP Matt.

It is truly a sad event. My prayers go out to the friends and family of Matthew. However one that could have been easily avoided. Does anyone consider the trauma that the driver may be going through? I am sure when they went out in their vehicle that day it was not their intent to hit and end the life of someone out riding their bike. I hope that this group can all try and learn something from this and be safer in the future.

I'm a bike rider and I ALWAYS obey the traffic laws because I've never seen a bike win against a car.

This is very, very sad... but the truth is that - even if you're riding a bicycle - if you're on the road you have to follow the rules of the road.

Tragic.

I agree with Very Sad Event. My heart goes out to Matthew's family and friends. As a cyclist myself, I also hope this tragic event clearly illustrates to cyclists that they're no different from motorized vehicles and need to obey traffic laws. I see far too many of my fellow cyclists ignoring red lights, stop signs, and other traffic control devices.

The problem is that these kind of rides/races cast a bad light on those of us that DO follow the rules and make it that much tougher to get the protection that cyclists need.

These types of events give ammo to the "well they need to follow the rules too" crowd that too often opens their SUV door right in my path.

Very Sad Event wrote:

It is truly a sad event. My prayers go out to the friends and family of Matthew. However one that could have been easily avoided. Does anyone consider the trauma that the driver may be going through? I am sure when they went out in their vehicle that day it was not their intent to hit and end the life of someone out riding their bike. I hope that this group can all try and learn something from this and be safer in the future.

Very good post.

These people should be ARRESTED!

The problem is that these kind of rides/races cast a bad light on those of us that DO follow the rules and make it that much tougher to get the protection that cyclists need.
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Bicyclisys rarely follow the traffic rules!

The Tour da Chicago is both illegal and dangerous and the police should put a stop to it, now, seeing as how this is its ninth year so obviously the organizers don't seem interested in stopping it. What you have here is an event in which not running red lights means not winning.

In general it's worth pointing out Chicago's silver designation in the League of American Bicyclists "Bicycle Friendly Communities" program -- and why Chicago so far has not succeeded in getting the gold award. Chicago is seriously lacking in both education and enforcement, even though the infrastructure and the encouragement of cycling here is very strong on every measure. The result is that drivers and cyclists seem to be at war with one another -- drivers who think cyclists should be chased off the road, cyclists who regard anything that forces them to stop as an encumbrance.

If this is a scheduled annual event, and riders are racing through intersections without stopping for traffic signals,why don't the organizers have them blocked off for those few moments?

I agree with saddened. Feel sorry for the person who hit and killed the cyclist. Matthew took a dangerous risk running that light, but he made that decision. This poor person, unlike the riders, was obeying the law and is now dragged into an emotional hell they could not have anticipated.

I watched some guy on TV that was part of the race talking about "when drivers enter an intersection you should exhibit caution & make sure intersection is clear." This is what our society has come down to...looking to blame, looking outside of self to rationalize a moronic and fatal decision by the cyclist.

My thoughts go out to the family who has lost him but I agree with the other posters on the apparent beatification of the victim.
Had he been driving a car, his picture would not be appearing. If someone tries to beat a train at a crossing and is struck, there is no picture of the person in the paper and someone saying, "He jumped right in there....that's why he disregarded the signals"
So yes, my thoughts go out to the vicitm's family, but my sympathy and thoughts go out to a greater degree to the driver of the SUV. I can only hope that each member and participant in this race has extended their thoughts to the driver on the horrible tragedy that they and this "lawless" race has caused.

Sympathies to the family of the cyclist, but my heart truly goes out to the individual who accidentally hit this person, what a horrible feeling that must be.

it is indeed sad ... however, simple rules of looking both ways before crossing a busy street wouldn't have hurt here.