For Md. Cyclist, a Weekend Ride Took a Fatal Turn

At bike shops, sales of adult-size bikes have surpassed those of kiddie bikes, and charity rides, bike clubs and regular group rides have made the sight of adults pedaling on the roadway commonplace.

The number of adult deaths was bound to climb, too. A U.S. Department of Transportation study found that adult bike deaths tripled from 1975 to 2000, while deaths among children 15 and younger dropped by two-thirds, in part because of new helmet laws.

Bike sales were projected to total $5.3 billion last year, and a growing sliver of that market belongs to road bikes, the light, sleek racing machines ridden by Armstrong and his foes as the three-week Tour de France nears its finish tomorrow. Sales of those bikes have risen dramatically in just the past two years, according to the National Bicycle Dealers Association, at an average price of $1,152 last year.

Gordon set out on his road bike about 11:30 a.m. Saturday after a relaxing morning at home.

He got up early, ate a bowl of bran cereal, then went to a bedroom to watch the Tour de France on TV. His wife and 8-year-old son, Tommy, were loafing in the living room, watching another program. The couple's daughter, Jessie, 12, and some friends who had slept over had control of the basement.

Gordon had been following the Tour religiously, taping the televised stages on weekdays and watching them at night. Only on weekends did he have time to watch live coverage.

This year's Tour had special significance for Gordon, the head of magnetic resonance imaging at Fairfax Radiological Consultants. He and a colleague, Lyn Goodwin, planned an eight-day cycling trip in France. They had their tickets: On Sept. 10, they were to fly to France and stay in Bourg d'Oisans, a village in the Alps. From there, they would set out to ride some of the famous mountain peaks of the Tour.

These are grueling climbs that challenge the world's best cyclists, including Armstrong. Last year, after they watched Armstrong sprint up the Alpe d'Huez in a time trial, Gordon and Goodwin decided they would try it, too.

Gordon rode a bike built by Trek, the company that supplies Armstrong's bikes. He and Goodwin had put in lots of miles together, including a multiple-day tour through Virginia. Gordon rode "strong and fast" without saying much, said Goodwin, who called his friend "a rock-solid guy."

Through the spring and into summer, Gordon trained. He rode in the Blue Ridge Mountains to get his body in climbing shape. He lost 14 of the 20 pounds that he wanted to shed and tinkered with his bike to make it lighter.

Saturday, after watching the Tour on TV, he emerged from the bedroom in his cycling gear, pumped up and ready to ride. He mixed energy powder with his orange Gatorade, grabbed his helmet, a spare inner tube and tools, and off he went.

Less than an hour later, he was pedaling northwest on Hawthorne Road, a favorite route. Unlike a lot of rural roads, Hawthorne has an ample, eight-foot-wide shoulder marked by a solid white line. It is big enough for three cyclists to ride shoulder to shoulder.