FLCC> Just a reminder about Tuesday nights

[Mark Rishniw]

The yellow line rule is enforced for a reason.  We don't want 
something like this at our rides.  If you find yourself in bad 
position and need to move up, do so on the correct side of the 
road.  Or else ride smarter so as not to find yourself in bad position.
Twinkie.

Cyclist killed in midwest road race

By Mark Zalewski, North American Editor

A 24 year-old first-year racer was killed Saturday when a passing 
truck struck her while competing in the Proctor Cycling Classic in 
Brimfield, Illinois near Peoria. Beth Kobeszka (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) 
from Chicago was competing in the women's category 4 road race when 
she was reportedly bumped into the path of the truck pulling a horse trailer.

Witnesses of the accident reported that riders had crossed the middle 
yellow line as the pack of about 25 to 30 crested a small hill four 
miles from the race finish along Brimfield-Jubilee road. The truck 
was headed in the opposite direction legally as the race was 
operating under the 'yellow line rule.' The police report said that 
Kobeszka was bumped into the path of the truck by another racer.

"There had been some girls passing on the left several times and the 
lead car came back to tell people about the yellow line rule," Katie 
Haft (Morris Trucking Velo), who was racing in the event, told 
Cyclingnews. "We came up the crest of the hill and I don't know if 
people were passing or if they were bumped if while a truck pulling a 
trailer was coming the other direction."

"I just saw people getting tangled and one woman fell into the side 
of the trailer and it rolled over her," Haft said.

"A few on the front kept going but a lot of people stopped. People 
were really unsure of what to do. I stopped for a while and the 
follow car in back stopped but there was probably nothing I could do."

Kobeszka was transported to a local hospital with multiple injuries 
and was pronounced dead later the same day.

The police report said that the truck was driven by Thomas S. 
Milligan, 48, of Quincy, Illinois and that he stopped immediately 
after the collision.

"Our prayers and thoughts are with the family of the young lady," 
Milligan told the Peoria Journal Star from his home Sunday. "I've got 
two daughters and I can't even imagine what they're going through. It 
was a tragic thing. It's just a shock."

No charges are expected in the case, according to police.

Kobeszka was new to the XXX team but was a part of its women's 
development squad, headed by Randy Warren, which focused on racing. 
"She graduated from Northwestern University and was a runner there," 
said Warren. "She was was relatively new, joining the team this year, 
but was pretty gung-ho about racing. She was part of the women's 
development program which means signing agreement to race, and she 
won the Cobb Park criterium last weekend."

The already scheduled July 2 team meeting has been transformed into a 
forum for team-mates to deal with the tragedy. "One of our members is 
also a chaplain and will lead us in grief counseling," said Warren. 
"We are working with her mum to decide where to have a memorial fund 
set up. The funeral will be this week."

Warren also said that the team's August criterium in Chicago might 
also serve as a memorial. "We are thinking of naming the women's race 
after her."

More information about the memorial can be found on the team's web 
site: www.xxxracing.org. Cyclingnews extends its condolences to the 
family and friends.

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