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A respected bicycle advocate and educator, Bill treated the Bike Friday Arizona Desert Camp to a lecture on the wherewithalls of traffic light sensors. Photo by Andrejs Ozolins.
On Friday June 24, 2005, one of our favorite members of the Friday fold was fatally injured when struck by a pickup during a cross-country tour. We pay tribute this great cyclist and bicycling advocate.
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NOVEMBER 2006 UPDATE - Thanks to reader R Hyman for sending this along
From THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN, November 29, 2006 Police officer in fatal crash ordered to pay
By TRACY HARMON
CANON CITY - A police officer who was found guilty of causing the death of a 69-year-old California bicyclist has been ordered to pay $39,341 in restitution.
Doug Havens, 34, a rural Westcliffe resident, was found innocent of speeding but guilty of misdemeanor careless driving causing death in January and was sentenced in June to probation for two years. Havens was off-duty on June 24, 2005, as he was driving his pickup truck north on Colorado 67 when he hit bicyclist William Bliss of San Jose, Calif., who died at the scene.
District Attorney Molly Chilson's request for restitution was granted in part by Judge William Fox. Havens was ordered to pay $26,954 to the victim's wife, Bonnie Bliss, and $12,251 to the victim's compensation fund.
Havens also was ordered to pay Chilson's office $136 toward cost of prosecution.
Fox made the $39,341 restitution payment a condition of Haven's probation.
Bliss was a pioneer in bicycle safety who invented safety items for bicyclists and worked to educate others on bicycle safety in California.
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Nov 2005: Open letter from Bonnie Bliss
Bill Bliss obituary in the Mercury News
Bill Bliss was a true Bike Friday Champion.
A Bike Friday Champion is not the fastest rider, the strongest climber, nor the farthest traveler on a Friday.
He or she is not necessarily a person who collects Bike Fridays like Heinz Stucke collects mile markers - though Bill certainly qualifies, being the owner of a Pocket Rocket, Air Friday and Air Llama.
Rather, a BF champion is someone who regards his or her bicycle as fundamental to their daily life as their toothbrush.
They wake each day looking for an opportunity to ride rather than drive; to accept wind, rain and muscle fatigue as evidence that they are alive; to appreciate the curious dichotomy of solitude and camaraderie that comes with planting your butt in a saddle, your hands on two rubber grips, and covering great distances under your own power.
They are passionate about the need to tread lightly on our overwrought planet, and are not shy about insisting the world know exactly where they stand in that issue.
A Bike Friday Champion often brings friends, family and total strangers into the Friday fold just by living large on two small wheels, knowing that there's no city, sea or mountain they can't cross on them.
Bill Bliss was a champion to the core, as his tribute reveals.
I rode with Bill in Desert Camp this year. You could not miss him, with his big saddlebag and even bigger, handlebar moustache, which would part often to reveal some very large, smiling white teeth. He would share wry anecdotes from his Round the World bicycle journey and his eyes would twinkle. Then just as suddenly, he'd slip off at his own pace, deep in his own thoughts and pedal strokes. You'd catch him, pass him, and always know he was somewhere nearby, riding with steadiness and safety.
At camp he delivered a thoughtful lecture on bicycle sensors at traffic lights, telling us exactly where to place our tires for a minimum wait. I asked him to send me the text to share with the rest of the Bike Friday community, and he was planning to do just that - as soon as he got back from his most recent cross-country trip.
Just before he set off on this last tour, he popped into Bike Friday with a new invention - his collapsible Samsonite suitcase - to match his collapsible Bike Fridays, of course. He was an ingenious tinkerer with a bee in his helmet for ways to make cycling life easier, more effective, enjoyable and safer.
We will all miss Bill. We understand he clocked up 250,000 miles on his cycle computer. We hope no-one resets it - we know he is still cycling somewhere, and coming up with brilliant cycling ideas.
We just wish he was here to share them with us.
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Lynette Chiang and all of us here at Bike Friday
BILL'S PROTOTYPE FOLDING SAMSONITE SUITCASE- For a folding Friday of course!
 "Before I rode around the world with Tim Kneeland on "Odyssey 2000," I went on a week-long ride of Washington State to see how TK&A managed their rides. The ride started in Seattle and finished in Longbeach. I wanted to fly into Seattle and fly home from Portland but Tim would not carry my Bike Friday suitcase. |
 He was testing out one of the four locker trailers he had built for Odyssey. It had about 130 17" x 17" x 37" individual lockers for riders to store their stuff and he claimed there was no place for a suitcase. |
 I didn't want to van all the way back to Seattle so I bought a case from the Samsonite outlet store and modified it so it would fit in my locker. It and the trailer kit fit OK and at the end of the ride I *did* ride to the Portland Airport. |
 (I had a couple of problems; this was my first experience with the trailer and I got the O rings in the wrong place so the rolling friction was higher than it should be. A bigger problem was that I rode on the hilly Oregon side of the river instead of on the flat Washington side. I called to slip my flight twice but finally made it.)" - Bill Bliss, June 2005 |
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 Alan Scholz, co-Founder of Bike Friday: I am very sad about this. Such a special and unusual but unassuming person. Through his connection with Bike Friday he affected many of us and made many of our events exceptional through his presence. A gentle but intrepid and especially capable guy. He was an extremely competent cyclist with a ingenious streak. I will miss him. I always looking forward to his many stories of riding around the world. |
From Sandy Vaurs, 2005 Pocket Crusoe:
One of my coworkers and a friend for over 20 years, Bill Bliss, died from being hit by a pickup truck on Colorado on June 24th while on a tour across the US. As you can see from his obituary, he was surpassed by few in his bike travels. He is pictured here with his Bike Friday giving a presentation to a cycling class in San Jose May 8,2004. I don't know if Bill was a member of Yak or the Bike Friday club, but his passing is being mourned by his family here and his many, many friends. If you want to pass this along to the other members of the Yak, some of whom undoubtedly knew him, please do.Thanks to the Almaden Cycling Club for this shot of Bill, below
From Susan Notorangelo and Lon Haldeman, PACTour
Bill shared his vast knowledge of cycling to many of the beginner riders at the Bike Friday Pac Tour Desert Camps 2004 and 2005. He was patient and kind when explaining how to change a flat or decipher the cue sheet. I spent afternoon lunches with him as the final riders would arrive. He encouraged each and everyone of them - to continue riding - as he believed in riding the bike; not riding in the sag! And he rode every mile of Desert Camp! I feel blessed to have crossed paths with this strong advocate of the sport I love!
From Rufus Woods, Desert Camp 2004
This is really sad. Bill was a wonderful gentleman and a passionate cyclist.
From Maynard Hershon, Cycling author, Desert Camp2004
This is terrible news. I chatted with Bill last year and this year at the PacTour camps and I knew him slightly when I lived in the Bay Area. He was a genuine bike rider, the real, triple-distilled thing. Please send me further news and/or your thoughts on our loss.
From Bobbi Kamil, Desert Camp Alumni
I'm just sitting here stunned and heartbroken. Bill was just such a fine and generous human being. I remember going on the PAC Tour the first time. I was a total neophyte. I'd never ridden with a group, knew little about maintaining my bike and was scared stiff. I sat next to Bill at that first dinner and he was so warm and reassuring, that I even got a good night's sleep. And somehow he was always around--when I was struggling up one more hill, or rolled in late and still had to check out my bike or when I was looking for a friend to join for dinner.
Not only did I survive that first PAC Tour, but came back for more "punishment" and was thrilled to see that Bill was again in attendance and this time he'd brought Bonnie, who instantly also became a friend. They were a special team.
I will miss Bill and his camera and his smiles and his ability to enjoy everything he did and to help others see the joy in simple daily experiences.
From Mike Mahoney, Houston, TX
Wow, the world, and we cyclists in particular, lost a real quality guy when Bill Bliss was struck by a car and killed. I didn't know Bill as well as some, but I do know that he had a real zest for life and I'm sure he would still be riding with us if it were his choice. However, I suspect that if he knew that he had to "go", he would have just as soon left us while riding his bike. I was fortunate enough to spend a week cycling with Bill at the 2004 PAC Tour Cycling Camp hosted by Bike Friday. Bill wasn't a fast rider, but each day he started early and usually took the long option and rode at a steady pace. He often ended up riding alone, since he was slower than the fast riders, but rode longer distances than the slower riders and didn't dally much at the stops. He did enjoy riding company when it was available, and I remember sharing his company on a particularly long and windy leg into Tombstone, AZ. I say Bill was a "quality guy" because as I knew him, he was a giving kind of guy who would stop to help almost anyone change a flat if they needed help... or company during the process if they didn't. He was willing to share his knowledge and one evening during the PAC Tour, he spoke at a seminar on traffic light loops (those things buried in the pavement that trigger lights to change). This was a topic that he knew a lot about and was generous enough to share his expertise. I still practice some of the tips he offered and now I will remember him each time I do so in the future. Ride on Big Bill... and down inside, I know that you are.
If you would like your tribute added to this list email it to lynettec at bikefriday dot com
Bill sharing lunchtime banter on the inaugural Bike Friday PACTOUR Desert Camp, 2004. Never one to blow past people without saying hi, he always had time to stop and smell the rest stop munchies - and encourage less experienced cyclists. Photo by AirFriday owner Elmer Bricca.
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A newspaper article regarding the fatal crash is below:
Bicyclist killed on Colo. 67
David Young Daily Record Staff Writer
WETMORE — William Bliss, 69, died Friday after being hit by a pickup while riding his bicycle northbound on Colo. 67, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
Doug Havens, 34, a Cañon City police officer who was off duty at the time, was driving northbound on Colo. 67 in a pickup two miles north of Wetmore at 11:25 a.m.
According to CSP, the Westcliffe man’s vehicle skidded before colliding with Bliss’ bicycle from behind. The truck came to a stop on the right side of the road.
Bliss, of San Jose, Calif., and his bicycle were carried a short distance by the truck after the initial impact and rolled to a stop on the east shoulder of the road, according to reports.
According to authorities, Bliss died at the scene, and Havens was uninjured.
Fremont County Coroner Dr. Dorothy Twellman said Bliss’ cause of death was an atlanto-occipital separa-tion, which is a neck fracture at the base of the skull.
“He was traveling in the middle of the lane and a vehicle behind him just didn’t see him at all and struck him at about 60 miles per hour,” Twellman said.
Bliss was doing a cross country tour with Adventure Cycling, a company based out of Missoula, MT., that offers bicycle trips.
The crash is under investigation by the Colorado State Patrol Accident Reconstruction Team.
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 John S. Allen, consultant in bicycle crashes offers the following observations: I have no information yet about the width of the roadway, other traffic etc., but Bliss and the pickup truck were northbound. Sun glare and other visibility problems were unlikely. The road was straight or nearly so, with a slight downhill grade. John Forester estimates Bliss's speed at 25 to 30 mph. The newspaper article's citing Bliss's riding in the middle of the lane -- particularly at speed -- comes across to me as a feeble attempt to blame the victim in a case of a seriously inattentive or impaired driver. If the truck skidded before it struck Bliss at 60 mph, then how fast was it going before it braked? Much, or most, of the braking occurred *after* the truck struck Bliss or else it wouldn't have struck him. Incidents such as Bliss's crash can lead to fear of bicycling, and restrictions on bicyclists' freedom to use the roads. But, on a more positive note, earlier this June Colorado enacted important revisions to its traffic law for bicyclists (See House Bill 1218). And have you ever noticed that life insurance companies impose no surcharges on bicyclists? That only makes sense, as the health benefit for avid, competent bicyclists outweighs the risk of fatal or disabling injury by many times. I'll take off my helmet and stand in a minute of meditation for Bill Bliss, but I'm not going to give up bicycling, and I know that he wouldn't want me to. - John Allen +++ Friends and family were invited to a gathering celebrating his life on Thursday, June 30th from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. at La Hacienda Restaurant, 18840 Saratoga-Los Gatos Rd. A private interment was held at a later date. Donations in lieu of flowers can be accepted in his name by the San Francisco Bay Trail, www.baytrail.org, P.O. Box 2050 Oakland, California 94604. |
Bill heads out on his Air Friday into the Arizona sun on the inaugural Bike Friday PACTOUR Desert Camp, 2004
BikeCal.com tribute by Naomi Bloom
Emailable link to this article: http://www.bikefriday.com/billbliss