Matthew O'Neill of PCH Randos Struck and Killed During the 3CR 1000/1200

[ptourkin]

Passing this along from the PCH Randos Group. I think Plattyjo has already mentioned this. Matthew was a great guy and supporter of cycling. I had a great experience on a remote 600k that he administered and supported with his dad in tow. My thoughts go out to his people:

"Matthew O'Neill was one of the kindest, most supportive, most knowledgable randonneurs I have ever met. He would ride with you through tough times, guide you through a tricky route, feed you peach gummy rings when you were bonking, and keep you upright on your bike when you were delirious at night. He hosted many a brevet, owned or cared for a multitude of routes, and was known to offer the most attentive and comprehensive support on extremely challenging brevets. Although we only had two flèche teams this year, he both rode it and hosted the breakfast feast at the end in his home town of Carpinteria. He was absolutely the soul of our close PCH Randos group. Already having completed the Santa Fe Trail 1000K this past May, his next big challenge was to be the Perth-Albany-Perth 1200K he was to ride with Jun Sato of Japan; I've never seen him more excited about a big ride. As he rode, he continually kept his sweetheart Jen updated with texts. He told us all about their plans to get married and buy a home when he received his Ph.D next June.

He was our riding partner and roommate on this exquisite ride, and I had the utter horror to roll up on one of my dearest friends in the company of fellow randos. Phil MacFarlane pulled Mark Borba, Julie Ni, and myself all the way back to SLO from that horrific scene at such a clip, that we could do nothing but concentrate on the road and our fellow randos, sticking together through Mark's flat tire and tough final climb, making it back safely so that Julie and I were able to finish our first 1000Ks, and Phil and Mark were able to finish their 1st 1200Ks.

The officers at the scene told us it was an accident since it was not hit and run or drunk driving, but I explained to them that we ride legally and visibly on the road, and in spite of this, we were still passed far too closely during the entire ride. If we can teach all drivers to change the lane completely when they pass, really make a campaign out of this, Matthew will not have died in vain. We need to stop close passes and the "I didn't see him" mindset. Regardless of the situation, when we motorists change lanes to pass, we cyclists are safer.

Change the lane, save a life; it only takes the time of a heartbeat."

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p250/cecilhayduke/1451438_762664617110134_416639585908508190_n.jpg (http://s130.photobucket.com/user/cecilhayduke/media/1451438_762664617110134_416639585908508190_n.jpg.h tml)

[fiamme red]

So sorry to hear this. :(

This is where he was killed, according to news reports: http://goo.gl/maps/ngYiF. Shoulder looks pretty decent.

[54ny77]

Very said to hear that.

Fiamme--parts of Foxen is (or at least used to be, when I lived in the area) full of ag equipment traffic--lots of trucks, etc. It's a well traveled road.

[fiamme red]

Very said to hear that.

Fiamme--parts of Foxen is (or at least used to be, when I lived in the area) full of ag equipment traffic--lots of trucks, etc. It's a well traveled road.Yes, I just looked at Streetview going slightly east and there are a lot of cars parked by a farm: http://goo.gl/maps/ePGNs.

Here's the article I was referencing:

http://www.keyt.com/news/chp-is-investigating-fatal-collision-involving-a-bicyclist-in-santa-maria/27402582

...CHP officials said the 33-year-old man from Chula Vista was riding a recumbent bicycle traveling westbound on Foxen Canyon road.

A 16 year old male from Santa Maria, driving a truck with a horse trailer was also traveling in the same the direction. A traffic collision occurred killing the male bicyclist...I would not want to ride a bike on a narrow two-lane road near a 16-year-old boy driving a truck with a trailer, even if he's completely sober. It's possible that he had the sun in his eyes (it was 7:30 p.m.), but that's no excuse.

[gone]

Words fail.

Although I didn't know Matthew I did know a number of people doing that brevet so it brings this senseless tragedy home all the more because I can envision it being one of my friends who was killed and feel at least some of the sorrow and loss those who knew him must be feeling.

I honestly don't know what to say. "Condolences", "prayers to those who knew him" etc., all seem so trite in the face of such a loss.

Threads about yet another cyclist being killed (it's instructive to type "cyclist" into google and see the suggestions) are becoming so commonplace I fear that even we cyclists are becoming accustomed to them. I don't know what the answer is, I wish I did, but it's too late for Matthew and too many others.

Sad.

[firerescuefin]

Words fail.


I honestly don't know what to say. "Condolences", "prayers to those who knew him" etc., all seem so trite in the face of such a loss.

Threads about yet another cyclist being killed (it's instructive to type "cyclist" into google and see the suggestions) are becoming so commonplace I fear that even we cyclists are becoming accustomed to them. I don't know what the answer is, I wish I did, but it's too late for Matthew and too many others.

Sad.

Agree. I was asked a question loaded with the sentiment above about my own bike riding choices.

My answer is that I pick my spots...and hope I don't win that lottery. Not the best reasoning/rationale ....and I know it.

[plattyjo]

I was fortunate enough to have been introduced to him at the start of the ride by Stacy, another PCH rando, and he seemed like a really nice guy. It was hard to learn of his death this morning and after talking with my husband, who grew up with horses (his late father was a farrier), noted that his dad would never have let him drive a trailer at that young age -- they're very hard to manage.

Here's an excerpt of an account from another rando from when he and my friend Stacy encountered the area where Matthew had been hit:

"So I’ve been telling you about our ride this past weekend and so far all I’ve told you was good news. On Saturday night I told you there was more but I would talk about it later. Now is later.

I was riding with a group of four from Solvang to San Luis Obispo. We had just descended Foxen Canyon Road and were riding in the flat farmlands. It was shortly after dark. As Randonnuers we have very stringent self-imposed rules about night riding gear. We are lit up like Christmas trees with lights and reflective gear.

We came upon the seen of an accident. There were several Hiway Patrol vehicles and several Fire Trucks on the seen but no ambulance and no wrecked cars. We came to a stop and a Hiway Patrol Officer greeted us. He said a motorist hit a cyclist. I could see a bike in the dirt on the side of the road. I got off my bike a walked towards the bike in the dirt. The cop stopped me but I could see it was a carbon fiber recumbent and it was smashed.

The officer would not tell us who the rider was but one of the girls I was riding with, Stacy Kline, recognized the bike as belonging to her good friend (and room mate for this ride) Matthew O'Neill. I have met Mathew but didn’t know him well. I had seen him on several rides before and just a few hours earlier.

I think at this point we all thought that Mathew must have been taken to the hospital.
The officers asked us to move along. As we started to roll Stacy was the first one to pass by a fire truck where she saw Mathews body (covered) in the road. She fell to the ground on her bike bursting into tears and sobbing and calling to Mathew. It was heart breaking.

I wanted us to get out of there. We got Stacy back up and on her bike and started rolling. We had forty miles to go to the hotel. My wife Joann was driving her vehicle as SAG support for riders that night. A few miles down the road I stopped the group so I could call her to find out where she was patrolling. She could have been anywhere on the hundreds of miles of the course. She answered the phone and I asked where she was. She said on Foxen Canyon Road. I felt sick. I told her what happened. I wanted her to avoid the seen. She didn’t need to see it and I wanted her to know I was fine.

Before we got to the accident seen our group of four had been having a wonderful time riding along talking yelling at cows laughing. After, it was just a quiet fast ride for forty miles.

In that last forty miles no less than five motorists honked their horns at us. We were doing nothing wrong. We weren’t in their way. We weren’t slowing them down. They just hate us. If you have never experienced hate, get a bicycle and ride it in the good old USA.

According to the Santa Maria Times the driver that killed Mathew is a 16 year old and his passenger is an 18 year old. They were in a 2007 Chevy dual wheel 3500 pick up towing a horse trailer. I saw the truck at the seen and knew it was the one. They didn’t run and the reports say when police arrived there were bystanders giving Mathew CPR. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

I don’t know what happened but I saw the seen and I know there is no excuse. It happened in daylight. It was a flat straight road. There is no excuse.
I am willing to bet that no charges will be filled. In this Country it seems to be ok to kill a cyclist. It’s usually chalked up as “just an accident” Just an accident. You as a driver are not responsible for you actions. Excuses like “the sun was in my eyes “ seem to be acceptable. How about if you can’t see where you’re going slow the ···· down or stop. Why is it ok to keep driving along when you can’t see where you’re going?

I’m not saying we should through everybody that hits a cyclist in jail either. That wont work. There are more people in prisons in this Country that any country in the world. That’s not the answer. The answer is driver education. At 50 years old I got my pilots license. It took me three years of constant training and cost a fortune because my one and only instructor is a perfectionist. That’s how it should be with drivers Licenses. I mean what’s the point in a driver’s license anyway? You obviously don’t need to know how to drive to get one. It should be a long hard process before you are allowed to drive a vehicle that is capable of so much damage. But its not. Any idiot can get licensed to drive a killing machine.

If I seem a little pissed it’s because I am. Just about a month ago a close friend of mine was riding his bike on Canada Road a well traveled and “safe” bicycle road near my house. My friend 67 years old. Riding along minding his own business when a car comes up from behind and buzzes him and a jackass in the back seat punches him in the ribs. "

There's a PCH 600k coming up in October that Matthew was organizing; I hope it becomes a memorial ride.

[soulspinner]

People I ride with wonder why for years I have ridden farther to the right than others, collecting more flats. My brother was hit twice, once by a drunk that the police let go (think they knew him) and one that crossed the line and collected him in the middle of the windshield. It only takes one person to hit you while you take the lane out of thousands that may pass you. I got a text from a friend just last night saying her friend was hit riding yesterday at 1130 am. May have to go to mountain biking....

[fiamme red]

http://www.keyt.com/news/cyclist-killed-remembered-as-randonneur/27528312