Brett Malin
Obituaries
Daily Peloton - Pro Cycling News page http://www.dailypeloton.c - June 20, 2003
http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=4037
The tragic death of Brett Malin, a RAAM rider in the four man relay team of Team Vail/Go Fast this week has not left my thoughts.
I attended the banquet and start of the RAAM in San Diego this weekend. Although I did not have the pleasure of meeting Brett, I became steeped in the RAAM spirit, first at the banquet, sharing the table with the FOI Team, and watching the solo riders and teams being announced.
I was impressed that evening by the esprit de corps of the riders, each welcoming the others to the stage, the energy and anticipation of the race evident in their posture, the common respect for each other, knowing that each had prepared to hit the road in the morning and give their all in honest and open competition in the daunting task of racing from San Diego to Atlantic City. Perhaps it is the honest assessment of their rivals and the task at hand.
Perhaps it is that each knew there was no escaping the miles, the tiredness, the efforts and common reality of the challenge they were soon to embark upon together, yet alone with only their grit and their bikes. As we all know as cyclists, no one pushes the pedals for us, there are no free rides; in this, cycling, like most athletic endeavors, is honest in the extreme.
At the start the next morning, I once again was impressed by the comraderie of the riders as they assembled. They seemed like gladiators knowing a battle lay ahead and they were eager to face the lions, in this case a 2992 mile asphalt ribbon. It was apparent that they are an international brotherhood of cyclists and certainly part of the international peloton that takes to the road, track and mountains every day in competitions.
As cyclists, each of us presses the envelope to see how far, how fast we can go. It's the challenge we welcome, in itself it is individual, we willingly accept it. As Lance said, "It's not about the bike." RAAM raises this to the most extreme levels, it harks to the first professional races at the turn of the century, the Paris Brest Paris, the first tours de France, the first six day track races. It is a monster of miles, unpredictable weather and inherent danger of the open road.
On the San Diego waterfront a few feet from the start was the clipper ship Star of India. I thought it symbolic, as each of the riders would race across the continent the way the Clippers raced upon the uncertain seas. Some men have always chosen to explore the unknown; for riders in RAAM it is how fast, how far, and can I just accomplish the journey. Explorers are the leaders that let us see how far we might go, they create new realities, and explore the horizon of the limits of human endurance and the spirit. When they succeed, all mankind is raised to a new level.
These brave men raise our expectations of the possibilities of life and what we all might accomplish. Brett was one of these men exploring his limits on a bicycle. I did not meet Brett Malin, but in a sense I feel I know him. He is one of us, a brother cyclist; our lives are richer for his exploration. May God bless you Brett, and put wings on your feet.
--Vaughn
Vail Daily - June 19, 2003
It was over like that. A quick fateful turn soon after midnight along the bicycle Race Across America for Vail rider Brett Malin. He never saw nor likely felt the 18-wheeler that bore down on him from behind a rise.
The pain for his family – his father witnessed the accident – and friends of course is excruciating and will linger for their lifetimes.
Consolation that the 30-year-old rider died doing what he loved best is not much. But family, friends and the rest of the community he leaves behind must take what we can in the wake of such tragedy, remember this bright spirit, and apply what lessons can be extracted about riding and life.
No. 1 is that life is fragile, even for the most superbly conditioned athletes doing what they are so much better at than the rest of us.
Malin and his teammates – Zach Bingham, Toph Leonard and Adam Palmer – were having the time of their young lives. They were leading the race when the accident happened on two-lane U.S. Highway 60 between the towns of Quemado and Omega in New Mexico.
Malin had just given way to teammate Bingham for the next leg and made a U-turn to head back to the team’s support vehicle. The big rig came up behind Malin, who was still riding in the roadway. His father yelled a warning from the support vehicle. He swung toward the shoulder of the road. Tragically, the semi did the same thing.
The race is over for the Vail team. Emotionally spent and grieving, they turned for home. This year’s Race Across America continues on toward its destination, Atlantic City, N.J., bearing all the weight of the first fatality in its 21-year history.
Bicycling has its hazards, but this accident was more akin to God’s lottery for us all than a cautionary tale to avoid doing something you love. All those close to Malin will tell you he lived to ride, even if his time to pass on came a mite sooner on his bike than perhaps it would have otherwise.
But none of us can tell what’s around the next bend or rise. Trite as this adage might sound, tragedy never fails to tell us our time here is short.
Make the most of it, and treasure each other. Those are lessons worth keeping close. D.R.
Vail Daily - June 24, 2003
