Update: Aug. 29, 2010 — “Hundreds bike to honor Ohio woman…”, Dayton Daily News. More than 300 cyclists pedaled to Michelle Kazlausky's funeral on Saturday.
Aug. 25, 2010 — “Prosecutor reviewing death of Pelotonia rider,” Columbus Dispatch. Coroner labels death a “homicide,” but explains he doesn't have arrest powers and his ruling isn't a legal action.
Donations in memory of Michelle Kazlausky are pouring in to the Pelotonia fund-raising website after the woman was killed while participating in the Ohio-based charity bike ride on Saturday.
She was just one of some 4,200 cyclists who participated this past weekend in the Pelotonia, a two-day bike ride between Columbus and Athens that raises funds for cancer research.
Donors had pledged $7,500 in her memory as of 5:30 a.m. Monday. That amount had more than doubled to $16,500 by late Monday night. Many of the donations of $10 or $25 were given by fellow riders.
The public outpouring prompted her son, Jeff McMahon, to pledge to ride in the 2011 Pelotonia:
“We appreciate the overwhelming thoughts and prayers for our mother's fateful trek to put an end to cancer. All the money raised in the past 36 hours has inspired (me) to publicly commit to ride in next year's Pelotonia.”
Failed to heed
The 57-year-old woman was killed when the driver of a pickup truck failed to respond to a police officer directing traffic at an intersection one the first day's ride. The Columbus Dispatch reports the driver swerved but struck Kazlausky. Police said that the brakes on the pickup truck might have malfunctioned, but are still investingating.
Kazlausky was a medical technician at Ohio State Medical Center East; the Pelotonia raises funds for The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.
Reports say that she was touched by the cancer patients she met on the job and wanted to do more to help. She had even raised money at work through a silent auction.
Pelotonia charity ride
Pelotonia was launched in 2008 in the spirit of the Pan-Mass Challenge, a wildly successful charity bike ride in Massachusetts that raises in excess of $30 million a year for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The maximum option for the Ohio bike ride is two days and 180 miles.
The Pelotonia staff wrote at the Facebook website:
“We are deeply saddened by this terrible news. We ask that you keep the Kazlausky family in your thoughts and prayers.”
Donations are still open at the Michelle Kazlausky fund-raising page at Pelotonia website.
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