Wouter Weylandt

I'm not a cyclist. The last day of my freshman year in high school a classmate was killed on her bike. My response was to stop riding. A few years ago, I went so far as to buy a bike in an attempt to try again. However, the streets of San Francisco were too intimidating and I gave up.  Thus, I suggest you skip my babbling below and take a look at this post from Bikesnobnyc

I'll not be writing about today's Giro wine. Like many cycling fans around the world, I was watching live coverage of the Giro this morning. The stage was moving along as expected, with a break up ahead and the peloton closing in when all of that ceased to matter. Universal Sports, and I assume all others, showed footage of a fallen rider, later identified as Wouter Weylandt. It was clear from both the initial shot and. the follow-up of medics doing CPR, that this was not the typical race injury. Indeed, by the time I got to my desk at work, reports had come out that attempts to revive him had failed and that he had died. He was 26 years old and his wife is reportedly pregnant with their first child, due in September. More information about Weylandt can be found on numerous places online including Podium Cafe, Velo News, and The New York Times.

I recorded the stage, along with watching it live, but do not think I will ever need to re watch. The stark reminder of the dangers of the sport was chilling and one I will not forget anytime soon. David Millar, the new wearer of the maglia rosa said it better than I ever could: “I love cycling, and I've always been enchanted by the epic scale of it all, it was why I fell in love with it as a boy. Yet Wouter's death today goes beyond anything that our sport is supposed to be about, it is a tragedy that we as sportsmen never expect, yet we live with it daily, completely oblivious to the dangers we put ourselves in. This is a sad reminder to us, the racers, what risks we take and what lives we lead."