A Tacoma, Washington, couple's ride of a lifetime ended on a rural road in north-central Wisconsin earlier this week when Bob Burton, 55, was struck by a car as he rode his touring bicycle.
His wife, Anita, who had ridden ahead a little while before the collision, said:
“It was an instant thing. We had a beautiful road. Two feet (of shoulder) and then the white line. The person who hit him did not see him.”
Details of the accident are sketchy. WSAW-TV reports that Burton was riding along US Highway 10 East on Tuesday morning approaching Milladore when a driver from Appleton, Wisconsin, hit the rear tire of his bicycle. No charges have been filed while the case is under investigation.
(It's reminiscent of the June 25 death of Phil Smith of Banner, Wyoming. He was a member of an Adventure Cycling Association cross-country tour when he was struck by a car while riding on a lightly travelled section of Washington Highway 23 near Davenport.)
Anita Burton told the Tacoma News-Tribune that her husband had stopped to relieve himself in a ditch while she rode ahead.
The couple's trip of a lifetime had started in May in San Diego. Burton had worked for the City of Tacoma for 30 years, retiring from his position as a computer network specialist in September to pursue his dream to ride cross-country.
The News-Tribune says that Burton undertook the bike trip because he wanted to do something, instead of just talk about it like his dad always did.
The couple were blogging about their trip at Bob & Nita's Excellent Adventure. They had stopped in Montana and Minneapolis to visit family and were just setting off again on July 28 to reach Delaware by October. They planned to visit another of their three sons along the way in Pennsylvania.
In his blog, Burton wrote about all the things his father wanted to do, but never did:
“Then one day at work, I heard myself tell my coworker, “Someday, I’m gonna…”. That’s when I realized that “talk with no action” was getting me to the same place as my father, nowhere. What I had always wanted to do was ride my bicycle across the country.”
Online photos of the bike trip are also available.
A memorial service for Bob Burton will be held next week; details will be posted in the blog.
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