Noted Iowa rider killed in car-bike crash

Mon April 07 2008
Posted Apr 7, 2008
7,754

TOM ALEX - REGISTER STAFF WRITER A 56-year-old bicycle rider who rode across the United States with a broken pelvis four years ago was killed Friday in northwest Iowa when he was hit from behind by a car. The Iowa State Patrol said Randy Van Zee of Sheldon, was riding west on a bicycle on County Road B-14 when he was hit from behind by a car. The driver of the Pontiac Grand Prix that hit Van Zee was identified as Sarah Johnson, 21, of Archer, Ia. The accident occurred shortly after 7 p.m. The Iowa State Patrol said in a report that the accident remains under investigation. Troopers were assisted by the O'Brien County Sheriff's Office, Sanborn police and Sanborn ambulance service. In 2004 Van Zee took a spill in Troy, Ohio, then rode the final 700 miles of the Race Across America anyway. He pedaled 2,958 miles from San Diego to the New Jersey Coast in 11 days, 16 hours and 26 minutes. Five miles from the Atlantic City Boardwalk he fell again but managed to finish.