another charity cyclist dies

from the Metro;

"a 37 year old father of one police officer collapsed and died whilst
taking part in a 100 mile bike ride in North Devon. The rider was half
way through the event when he collapsed whilst riding up a steep hill.
The remaining 55 policemen on the ride decided to continue".

and on the same day 4 participants in the Great North Run also died.

whilst there are always lessons to be learned from these events it is
still a great tragedy for all the families concerned.

MartinM wrote:
from the Metro;

"a 37 year old father of one police officer collapsed and died whilst
taking part in a 100 mile bike ride in North Devon. The rider was half
way through the event when he collapsed whilst riding up a steep hill.
The remaining 55 policemen on the ride decided to continue".

and on the same day 4 participants in the Great North Run also died.

whilst there are always lessons to be learned from these events it is
still a great tragedy for all the families concerned.


Yes I was running the Great North Run and there did appear to be rather a
lot of people needing attention at the side of the road.

It was a hot day as well which didn't help.


Sam Salt

"Sam Salt" wrote in message
...
MartinM wrote:
from the Metro;

"a 37 year old father of one police officer collapsed and died whilst
taking part in a 100 mile bike ride in North Devon. The rider was half
way through the event when he collapsed whilst riding up a steep hill.
The remaining 55 policemen on the ride decided to continue".

and on the same day 4 participants in the Great North Run also died.

whilst there are always lessons to be learned from these events it is
still a great tragedy for all the families concerned.


Yes I was running the Great North Run and there did appear to be rather a
lot of people needing attention at the side of the road.

It was a hot day as well which didn't help.

Four people died on the Great North ...

However I'm a little surprised at the OP's comment "lessons to be learned
from these events". What lessons can be learnt from this? Every policeman I
know is in good condition, and I'm presuming that this guy was just from his
age. He also had 55 qualified first aiders with him. I cannot take any
lessons from this.

However I'm a little surprised at the OP's comment "lessons to be
learned from these events".

Defibs and first aiders trained to use them? Measures taken to provide a
faster response from people in trouble? More water stops on hot days?
Good advice given on health and fitness well in advance of the race (I
think the organisers of the London marathon do this)...

Sam Salt wrote:
MartinM wrote:
from the Metro;

"a 37 year old father of one police officer collapsed and died whilst
taking part in a 100 mile bike ride in North Devon. The rider was half
way through the event when he collapsed whilst riding up a steep hill.
The remaining 55 policemen on the ride decided to continue".

and on the same day 4 participants in the Great North Run also died.

whilst there are always lessons to be learned from these events it is
still a great tragedy for all the families concerned.


Yes I was running the Great North Run and there did appear to be rather a
lot of people needing attention at the side of the road.

It was a hot day as well which didn't help.


There is no doubt that you are at greater risk of dying during exercise
than when resting but the exercise improves your life expectancy
overall. Assuming the GNR was a two hour event, that death rate is
about 24 times the background death rate in a normal population of that
size and this was an exceptional year.

There are questions though in my mind about these endurance events for
people who are basically not acclimatised to them. Lots train but lots
skimp on the training too.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

elyob wrote:
"Sam Salt" wrote in message
...

MartinM wrote:

from the Metro;

"a 37 year old father of one police officer collapsed and died whilst
taking part in a 100 mile bike ride in North Devon. The rider was half
way through the event when he collapsed whilst riding up a steep hill.
The remaining 55 policemen on the ride decided to continue".

and on the same day 4 participants in the Great North Run also died.

whilst there are always lessons to be learned from these events it is
still a great tragedy for all the families concerned.


Yes I was running the Great North Run and there did appear to be rather a
lot of people needing attention at the side of the road.

It was a hot day as well which didn't help.


Four people died on the Great North ...

However I'm a little surprised at the OP's comment "lessons to be learned
from these events". What lessons can be learnt from this? Every policeman I
know is in good condition, and I'm presuming that this guy was just from his
age. He also had 55 qualified first aiders with him. I cannot take any
lessons from this.



You guys must have healthier policemen.
I have met several who could not conceivably pass any fitness test.
And at least one who had heart attack writted all over him. Which
reminds me, its been two years I must check and see if he is still alive .

in message .com,
MartinM ') wrote:

from the Metro;

"a 37 year old father of one police officer collapsed and died whilst
taking part in a 100 mile bike ride in North Devon. The rider was half
way through the event when he collapsed whilst riding up a steep hill.
The remaining 55 policemen on the ride decided to continue".

and on the same day 4 participants in the Great North Run also died.

Everybody dies. I've just got back from a friend's father's funeral.
Death is not a tragedy, it's just an inevitable event. And, given that
one is going to die, is it better to die suddenly while doing something
you enjoy, or slowly and lingeringly, in a hospital bed, surrounded by
unfamiliar people and pumped full of a slew of medicines?

Earlier this year a person I knew slightly - a close friend of my
sister's - died of a heart attack while climbing Everest. I had very
mixed feelings; that is not at all a bad way to go.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; If God does not write LISP, God writes some code so similar to
;; LISP as to make no difference.

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:50:36 +0100, Simon Brooke
wrote:

Earlier this year a person I knew slightly - a close friend of my
sister's - died of a heart attack while climbing Everest. I had very
mixed feelings; that is not at all a bad way to go.

On the way down, or on the way up, for me there'd be a difference...

Jim.

elyob wrote:
"Sam Salt" wrote in message
...
MartinM wrote:
from the Metro;

"a 37 year old father of one police officer collapsed and died whilst
taking part in a 100 mile bike ride in North Devon. The rider was half
way through the event when he collapsed whilst riding up a steep hill.
The remaining 55 policemen on the ride decided to continue".

and on the same day 4 participants in the Great North Run also died.

whilst there are always lessons to be learned from these events it is
still a great tragedy for all the families concerned.


Yes I was running the Great North Run and there did appear to be rather a
lot of people needing attention at the side of the road.

It was a hot day as well which didn't help.

Four people died on the Great North ...

However I'm a little surprised at the OP's comment "lessons to be learned
from these events". What lessons can be learnt from this? Every policeman I
know is in good condition, and I'm presuming that this guy was just from his
age. He also had 55 qualified first aiders with him. I cannot take any
lessons from this.

I was absolutely not passing any comments about the individual event;
it was as we all agree a very sad occurnce; in fact the Metro carried a
headline about the Great North fatalities which was along the lines of
the "health risks" in doing this sort of thing which I do not subscribe
to either.

elyob wrote:


However I'm a little surprised at the OP's comment "lessons to be learned
from these events". What lessons can be learnt from this? Every policeman I
know is in good condition, and I'm presuming that this guy was just from his
age.

37 is not a particularly old age to be dying after about 50 miles on a
bike; but to be fair I have known younger men suffer heart attacks
without riding a bike.