Many of you may have already heard or read about this tragic accident in the East Bay, but in the interest of getting the word out and letting people know about yet another cyclist/car incident, I'm reposting this message that was sent out to the Cal Cycling and Collegiate listservs.

Also of note - a couple of articles published on this tragedy:

The Daily Californian:
http://www.dailycal.org/sharticle.php?id=25343

The Contra Costa Times:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/centralcontracosta/ci_6249875

Thanks for reading,
Alden Tanaka
WCCC Interim Director

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Friends and Family of Cal Cycling,

Corinne Crawford was taken off of life support this evening at 6pm so that she could give the gift of life to those in need. We have lost a true friend, a fierce teammate and a bright spirit today.

On Sunday, June 24th Corinne and Christian Claussen had gone out to ride to the summit of Mt. Diablo. They conquered the 4000 ft climb, took some photos and headed home. They stopped at a red light at the intersection of Olympic and Newell Ave in Walnut creek. They were in the cross walk, facing north. An elderly man was driving eastbound on Olympic and was startled by something he thought he saw out of the corner of his eye. He swerved and lost control of the vehicle, striking Corinne and Christian. Christian is ok; he has a concussion and deep abrasions. Corinne was taken to the Neurocience Intensive Care Unit at John Muir hospital in Walnut Creek. Her father and sister spent her last days with her.

We are going to hold a memorial dinner for Corinne this Wednesday from 6-9pm in the Haas Club room at the RSF. All are welcome. From 6-7pm there will be snacks and an opportunity to sign a poster we will send to Corinne's family. From 7 to 9 pm we will remember Corinne's life together. On hand will be the Tang Center's grief counselors. Corinne's father will also be there so we can share our love for her with him.

On Saturday, June 30th, we will do a ride in Corinne's honor. We will meet at Sproul Plaza at 9:30am, team members will say a few words and then we will leave at 10am. We plan to arrive at the site of the accident at 12 and leave flowers and anything else you would like to bring there. All are welcome to join us. It is an approximately 20 mile ride to the intersection. Those not wishing or unable to do the ride are welcome to join us at the intersection at noon.

If you are unable to join us, you can leave your thoughts on her CaringBridge website: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/corinnecrawford

Corinne was a true renaissance woman. She was a dedicated and caring teacher, had a singular gift for languages, and was a red-belt in Hankido. She was also a gifted cook and knitter, as well as a musician and she even dabbled in classical radio DJing. She was a brilliant scholar, a tender friend and a feisty, unstoppable spirit. I'll finish this email with a poem by Jack Kerouac.

the only people for me are the mad ones,
the ones who are mad to live,
mad to talk,
mad to be saved,
desirous of everything at the same time,
the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace things,
but burn like fabulous roman candles exploding like spiders across
the stars and in the middle you see the blue center light pop and
everybody goes "AWWW!"

--jack kerouac