I was reading through some posts on Facebook looking for something from the family and came upon this headline: Bike rider killed in close pass on Mt. Baldy Road last Saturday with the accompanying link to the story:
http://bikinginla.com/2014/06/20/bike-rider-killed-in-close-pass-on-mt-baldy-road-last-saturday/

Mistakenly I assumed that this posting had something to do with Bald Peak north of Newberg, Oregon, where my oldest son lives.

A couple weeks ago I posted something on this blog about a ride that my son did and recorded for me to watch. We've done that before together. We've ridden it not record it. Part of what he recorded was the route used to go up Bald Peak. However, the post on Facebook deals with Mt. Baldy in Southern California. And although I've never ridden Mt. Baldy, I have ridden some beautiful areas in Southern California.

From what I read the rider in the story won't be riding again. I can somewhat identify with that. His days were stolen from him by the neglect of someone else and he will not be riding again. However, according to some people, I may be back on a bike in about a year and a quarter. His full story, or at least that part about the last few hours of his life, can be seen by clicking on the link below and then scrolling down to Saturday, June 14:

https://www.claremont-courier.com/mobile/article/t12126-crime

There you can read the following:

"A Fontana bicyclist suffered fatal injuries following a collision with a vehicle near Evey Canyon. The 77-year-old female driver was traveling southbound on Mt. Baldy Road around 7 a.m. when she attempted to pass the 59-year-old male cyclist on the left. The passenger-side mirror of the white Chevy SUV struck the cyclist, propelling the biker to the ground with a tremendous impact. Los Angeles County Fire responded to the scene and the cyclist was airlifted to USC Medical Center with severe head trauma. Although he was wearing a helmet, the cyclist’s injuries were too severe and he died at the hospital. The accident remains under investigation."

This reminds me of a fatality on Oregon state route 18 near Hebo junction during an organized ride, Reach the Beach, a couple of years ago. A 60 plus-year-old man and cancer survivor was struck by the passenger-side mirror on a Cadillac SUV as a driver of that SUV  attempted to avoid a rear end collision with the vehicle in front of him. That near-miss rear end collision was caused by the inattention of the SUV driver.

Now what I'm getting at is this, my riding days have been temporarily taken from me. I'm not going to be riding Seattle to Portland this year. I am, however, still registered to do that ride. About the same time that my riding days were cut short, an acquaintance of mine -Aaron Smeltzer - had his running and riding days permanently taken from him. And so I propose, although not actually authorized by the Cascade Bicycle Club, to dedicate my number to Aaron. I wish I could say friend, however I was not that close to him. The fault was mine.

So, if there's someone who is riding the STP and would like to carry my number as a memorial to Aaron - you'd have to have your own registration - please contact me. Then you and I would both present this dedicated number, this memorial to his widow.