An Arizona man riding in the Bike Florida event was struck and killed by a motorist on Wednesday, the fifth day of the week-long bicycle tour around central Florida.
Police identified the man as Robert Paul King, 65, of Prescott, Arizona. The collision occurred as some 1,000 bicyclists were finishing the day's ride from High Springs to Newberry.
King was bicycling eastbound on the shoulder of Newberry Road. According to a Florida Highway Patrol press release reported in the Gainesville Sun, Brian Patrick Bunting, 23, of Newberry, was driving a Ford F-250 pickup in the same direction when it drifted onto the shoulder and struck the bicyclist.
Charges are pending.
This is the first time that Bike Florida has visited Central Florida since it began offering the annual spring bicycle tour in 1995. This year's 300-mile loop ride began in Gainesville on Saturday and is scheduled to end there on Friday.
The stop in Newberry was slated to offer dinner and entertainment Wednesday night at the Easton-Newberry Sports Complex.
The ride is a fund-raiser for the Florida Traffic and Bicycle Safety Education Program housed at the University of Florida, according to its website. Proceeds go toward bike safety education and training for school teachers, youth leaders and police.
Florida led the nation in bicycle deaths in 2009 with 107.
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