[SFRandon] Passing of Tom Milton

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Kitty

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Apr 25, 2010, 6:07:50 PM4/25/10
to San Francisco Randonneurs

I am very sorry to report the passing of Tom Milton yesterday at the
DMD. He was climbing up Mt. Hamilton and suffered a fatal heart attack
about 2 miles from the summit.
Earlier that day, Tom was riding strong and looked great as he reached
the summit of Mt. Diablo.
The night before, at DMD registration, Tom had donated one of his
bright yellow Sella Anatomica's "for any deserving volunteer". Tom
invented the saddle that has kept many of us riding long distances. He
was always good humored, cheerful, and entertaining, especially on
long rides. Over the years, Tom had ridden the '07 PBP, 6,000k of RUSA
events and 50 CTC doubles. Farewell to a good man who will be sorely
missed by all who knew him.


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Vladislav Luskin

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Apr 25, 2010, 6:20:38 PM4/25/10
to San Francisco Randonneurs
I was on the road with Tom during the DMD for about 5.5 hours.  We climbed Diablo, Morgan Territory, Altamont, and Patterson together.  He was in a great mood and was riding strongly.  At lunch, he said his tank was empty, but left before me.  My friend Jeff and I were 3d and 4th persons at the scene.  Two DMD riders were checking Tom's vital signs and administering CPR when we arrived.  Two Santa Clara Sheriffs cars arrived about 10 minutes later and deputies took over resuscitation efforts.  The deputies did chest compressions continuously for 40 minutes.  At that time, a helicopter from Stanford brought emergency response nurses who brought defibrillators and other equipment.  Sadly, their efforts were unsuccessful.

Vlad Luskin


From: Kitty <kgour...@yahoo.com>
To: San Francisco Randonneurs <sfra...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sun, April 25, 2010 3:07:50 PM
Subject: [SFRandon] Passing of Tom Milton


I am very sorry to report the passing of Tom Milton yesterday at the
DMD. He was climbing up Mt. Hamilton and suffered a fatal heart attack
about 2 miles from the summit.
Earlier that day, Tom was riding strong and looked great as he reached
the summit of Mt. Diablo.
The night before, at DMD registration, Tom had donated one of his
bright yellow Sella Anatomica's "for any deserving volunteer".  Tom
invented the saddle that has kept many of us riding long distances. He
was always good humored, cheerful, and entertaining, especially on
long rides. Over the years, Tom had ridden the '07 PBP, 6,000k of RUSA
events and 50 CTC doubles.  Farewell to a good man who will be sorely
missed by all who knew him.


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Old5ten

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Apr 25, 2010, 9:19:08 PM4/25/10
to kgour...@yahoo.com, San Francisco Randonneurs
I'm really sorry to hear that.  My sincere condolences to Tom's family.  I fondly remember riding the New Year's Day Ride down in LA with Tom and a handful of other brave souls a couple of year's ago.  The winds were blowing so hard that the others were making fun of me because I was literally riding sideways at an angle.  Tom certainly was good company and took my many questions about his saddle and business in stride.

In my opinion one shouldn't really use cliches, but in this case I can't find any better words: Tom died in a beautiful place, doing what he loved!  I rode Mines and Hamilton today with a friend, probably under very similar circumstances as Tom did yesterday.  Based on a randon thread about Mt. Diablo flowers I brought a camera.  The images were shot a few miles South of the Junction and must have been what Tom witnessed an hour or so before his death.  The view was breathtaking!

Ride on Tom...

Elmar
Hamilton Elk.jpg
Hamilton More Flowers.jpg

Todd Teachout

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Apr 25, 2010, 11:12:33 PM4/25/10
to kgour...@yahoo.com, San Francisco Randonneurs
Rob notified all the participants of today's Russian River 200k brevet of Tom's passing.

I didn't know Tom that well but had a nice but brief discussion with him at the Davis 400k last week. It is difficult to accept that such a passionate, strong, and dedicated rider like Tom has left us. I wish him well.

Todd Teachout

Don Bennett

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Apr 26, 2010, 1:25:50 AM4/26/10
to tht...@sonic.net, kgour...@yahoo.com, San Francisco Randonneurs
I'm sad to hear this;  I didn't really know Tom, but I chatted with him briefly on the DBC 400k last week and mentioned that I recognized him from his bamboo bike and the fact that Facebook was continually suggesting him as a friend.

He was telling me how it takes an extroverted personality to ride a bamboo bike - people are always asking you about it, even from their cars. He said that one rider had to sell his because he couldn't take the attention it draws.

Don
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