lose the name "Death Ride"?

Dr. Scott Lambert died after crashing in the 2002 Death Ride
(www.deathride.com). His family is protesting the continued use of the
name Death Ride and the skeleton mascot. Lambert is the only rider to
have died in the 23 year history of this popular ride. The official
name of the ride is "Tour of the California Alps" but the popular name
has been Death Ride for many years.

The family viewpoint:
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/s...-7952696c.html

The ride org viewpoint:
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/app...ORTS/307110301

I sympathize with the Lambert family but would be very disappointed if
the ride lost such a great name. I am curious how you, the bike
community, feels about this.

I finished all five passes this year making 3 years in a row. 10h 40m
on the bike and 12h 48m total.

Interesting. I bet that Dr. Lambert himself usually referred to the
ride as the 'Death Ride'; seems to be implicit in the part of the Bee
story where it says his daughter had nightmares when she found out he
was to ride in an event with that name. I think the organizers took
a good tact; honor the guy, but keep the event names intact - probably
part of the draw that lured him to ride in it in the first place.

- rick warner

"Dan" wrote in message
om...

Dr. Scott Lambert died after crashing in the 2002 Death Ride
(www.deathride.com). His family is protesting the continued use of the
name Death Ride and the skeleton mascot. Lambert is the only rider to
have died in the 23 year history of this popular ride. The official
name of the ride is "Tour of the California Alps" but the popular name
has been Death Ride for many years.

The family viewpoint:
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/s...-7952696c.html

The ride org viewpoint:

http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/app...ORTS/307110301

I sympathize with the Lambert family but would be very disappointed if
the ride lost such a great name. I am curious how you, the bike
community, feels about this.

I finished all five passes this year making 3 years in a row. 10h 40m
on the bike and 12h 48m total.

I can understand the families feelings on this, but I'd bet Dr. Lambert
liked the name and it does have the mystique to us "Fred" riders that like
the challenge. My wife didn't want me to do this ride because of the name
either. It certainly isn't PC. Personally I hope they keep the name but I
noticed that this years Jersey doesn't have "Death Ride" on it at all. The
T-shirt does. But the Jersey does have one of my favorite Grateful Dead song
titles on the back (Fire on the Mountain). I bought a 2002 sleevless Jersey
at discount because I needed one and it was a good deal. Glad I did because
it may be the last Jersey with Death Ride on it.

I did the Death Ride this year for the first time (Did the RAMROD a couple
times before) and completed in 9h 43m riding time 12h 6m total. I am
particularly proud of myself because I moved from Seattle to Michigan last
year and trained in the flat lands and only had time this year to do about
810 miles of training yet the ride didn't kill me. Yes I'd like to do it
again. Its a great ride, by far the best supported I've ever seen with the
nicest people. Its amazing what adrenaline, scenery and support will do, and
I used the ride to raise almost $8000 dollars for a Brain Tumor Research and
Information Foundation (Musella Foundation).

See ya at the DR or whatever they call it next year.

Kendall (in Ann Arbor Michigan)

"Dan" wrote in message
om...

I sympathize with the Lambert family
but would be very disappointed if
the ride lost such a great name. I am
curious how you, the bike
community, feels about this.


I did it once and had a great time; it's a beautiful route.
I'll do it again sooner or later (got shut out in the lotto this
year and last), but the name is stupid.

I have to agree with Jobst Brandt that calling rides things
like "Death Ride" is a negative. It sends a message to
people that riding a bicycle is an unpleasant event that one
must struggle to endure.

Todd Kuzma