Robert Breedlove

Robert Breedlove, the Des Moines surgeon and ultra marathon bicycle rider who was killed Thursday during a cross-country race (RAM), weaved back and forth along the road moments before slumping over his bike and veering into an oncoming pickup truck. That picture suggests to experts that the accident was the result of a health problem.

“A roadside observer, a farmer in the field, said he noticed Bob weaving, and it sounded like it was happening for several hundred feet before the accident,” said Lon Haldeman, a friend of Breedlove’s and an organizer of the 11-day Race Across America.

The 15-year-old driver of the pickup did not have a license, and traffic charges were pending. But it appeared the driver took proper evasive action and did not cause the accident. “He steered to his right, applied the brakes. He did all that was in his power,” said the state patrol supervisor on the scene.

The pickup drive told race officials that Breedlove was hunched over his bicycle and swerved in front of the pickup.

“I talked to him at the start of the race, and he seemed in good spirits, good shape. He didn’t complain about anything being wrong,” Lon Haldeman said. “It was a tragic set of circumstances and bad luck all the way around. We’re all still devastated.

Breedlove, who was five days into the 3,051-mile race that began in San Diego and ends in Atlantic City, was in 12^th place among 26 solo riders overall and leading the 50-plus age group. His racing crew trailed him and reported that minutes before the crash Breedlove had a drink and snack and appeared to be feeling well, said Paul Skilbeck, a race spokesman.

The Race Across America is a coast-to-coast trek in which riders pedal up to 22 hours a day. It is the world’s longest bicycle race and, by many cyclists’ accounts, the most grueling.

Breedlove was well prepared for this year’s race – he rode up to 15,000 miles a year to get ready for the event.

Breedlove was a great cyclist, “but those who knew him will tell you he lived for his family and his kids and everyone around him.”

Breedlove was 55 years old.

Breedlove rode his bicycle not to live longer, its seems, but to live better. To live now.