"I spoke to David's wife and daughter this morning. Funeral arrangements for David are pending, but the service will probably be Tuesday. I will add details to this thread when I get them.

His family asks that those who wish to contribute to a charity in David's name donate to Kiva.org or the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.

David's wife and daughter repeatedly expressed how much he loved riding with the club.
"

I did not know David but I am so sad and shocked to hear this terrible news.
My hearfelt condolences to his friends and family.

Barbara

Thoughts of David Oliner

As some of you may have heard, David a B18 participant passed, away while cycling this past weekend. David is survived by his wife Bobbi and his two children. The club has reached out to David’s loving family during this difficult time.

We would like to honor David’s spirit and celebrate his active life by dedicating the 2007 B SIG to his memory. We ask each B SIG participant do whatever they feel is appropriate to remember David and his love for our sport on the three remaining B SIG rides.

For David’s group we hope that the shock of what they experienced this past Saturday will be somewhat mitigated by the realization that David was doing what he loved at his untimely passing.

We lost a kindred spirit yesterday. Even if you did not have the pleasure of riding with David, we all knew him in some sense. If you've completed a SIG in the past or are in one now, or if you ride with a group, or if you think about cycling all the time, you knew David. David loved cycling, and he was well on his way toward completing the B-18 SIG. There's an undeniable bond that forges between Siggies because of the nature of the program and the commitment that each rider must make, and there's a broader bond that we all share: a passion for cycling. Whenever Dave and I talked, he would always talk about cycling, even though we could have talked about anything else, and when he did, his eyes lit up. Even when we would suffer up hills together, he'd crack jokes, and yes, they would be cycling-related. He was hooked. I cannot begin to express my sympathies to his wife and children. Yesterday, we lost one of us and a bit of ourselves, and he will be greatly missed.

David's daughter, Liz, e-mailed me to post this message to the Club:

I just want to thank every one who has gotten in touch with me about the experiences they shared with my father, David Oliner, during the B-sig rides. My father loved these rides. I originally planned to sign up for the B-sig with him and just couldn't commit to the time involved, but vicariously experienced the rides through him. My father got interested in cycling in his late 50's--when I bought my first bike at the age of 26 to do a triathlon. He also bought a bike and we would do loops of the park together and sometimes we would ride to Nyack or Piermont together. He looked forward to the feeling of accomplishment after each ride and to the little things--hot chocolate at the Runcible Spoon and reaching the peak of every hill and beginning a downhill descent.

For his death to occur on a bike ride, surrounded by some of the people he admired and shared a passion with, is not only completely shocking, but very fitting. My dad didn't deserve to suffer. He never wanted any one else to suffer. He was a passionate person, who became highly involved in any activity that he participated in. He read the NYCC board messages posts religiously and would refer to them in daily conversation with me, as if I had any idea what he was talking about. He also was a bike escort for the wheel chair athletes in the NY Marathon last year and loved the experience--he talked about it endlessly. Everyone of his friends and family members knew about the event.

He was many things in his life--an architect, an engineer, a lawyer, a landlord, a very caring father and one of my closest friends. He managed to achieve success in everything he did and never lost track of finding happiness and doing the things he loved along the way. He somehow also always seemed to have an endless amount of time to do these things.

He was getting ready to retire and sell most of the real estate he owned. He was going to time that with the completion of his century ride of the B-sig. He was never planning to quit the sig or quit finding new adventures--that was not something he believed in. The fact that he died after making it up a huge hill in Cold Spring Harbor and just suddenly collapsed is proof that he needed to make it to the end. Others have emailed me that they walked up the hill and that seemed like a totally acceptable alternative. But, just not something my dad would do. I'm glad that he made it to the top.

I just wish he were still here to tell me all about the ride today, like he always did. And I do want to thank every one who tried to helped him and got to know him. It is also nice to know that he wasn't alone in the end, but in a big group of people on a beautiful day, learning a new route and new skills.
--Liz Oliner

I spoke with David's wife and daughter this morning, and they asked me to convey the following information to the club members:

Funeral service will take place at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 17th, at Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, Amsterdam Ave @91st st. in Manhattan.

The family will be sitting shiva during the day and early evening, from Tuesday evening through Friday afternoon at the family home at 45 W. 60th st., Apt 35K, and welcome all visitors.

My sincerest condolences to the family

I had never met David. His position was similar to most of us in the NYCC. We tend to be an older lot who have accepted the risks of cycling in light of the benefits. Most of us are more likely to suffer a crash than things like cardiovascular accidents or deep vein thrombosis or a melanoma. We take the gambit for both the joy of doing what we like and positive health benefits of building reserve capacity. I think I speak for us all when I say our choice bestows a feeling of empowerment in an uncertain world. We carry him up every hill we climb.

"I didn't know David personally, but I have an email in my inbox from him with a cue sheet for the ""extra SIG ride"" on Saturday.

I knew David in a sense. In fact, we all did. He was a fellow human-being, a cyclist, a father and a husband.

I was shocked and saddened when I heard he died on the ride Saturday. I will be saying Kaddish for him. If anyone from B18 SIG 1 would like to join me, I would like to make a Shiva call this week."

David Oliner’s memorial service was held today and our club was well represented. We paid our respects and shared in the celebration of David’s life, with David’s wife and two grown up children. Among those in attendance were David’s three B SIG leaders Adrienne, Michael and Steven . Steven was asked by David’s family to be one of the many speakers and Steven spoke with eloquence. To see other leaders, participants, members and our Club President (representing all 2,000 of us) made me proud to be associated with our club. mark

"I was going to use it in a post about a friend who rides a decidedly unfashionable bike, but I’ve been following this thread, meditating on our respective mortality and our oftimes irrational devotion to this dangerous but thrilling pastime (“why we ride ... ”) and the idea mutated.

From an Australian anthology of late 19th century verse, it’s a practitioner's tale with references to technology in vogue at the time. If you're even slightly competitive, then you've been subject as well as object. While humorous in tone, it never fails to make my pulse race and eyes water.

Judging from the testimonials, I think David would’ve found it equally moving.

The Man with Rubber Pedals

Scroll to the bottom of the page."

My name is Sharon and David Oliner was my uncle. Thank you all for your kind emails and wishes and for coming to his funeral. I know that it would have meant a lot for him that his cycling friends were there. I am a fellow long distance cyclist and I understand why he loved the sport so much. Cyclist are unique and strong people and I am glad that he was with all of you for his last ride.

Love,
Sharon

I'd like to give my deepest condolences to the Oliner family, David was one of my most inspirational students, He came to my spin class always smiling and ready for a challenge, his intensity, and great attitude brought energy to the room, and I'm so sad that won't get to share his passion for cycling again.

Chris.

"To everyone who has reached out to David Oliner’s family and friends so far, including David’s riding buddies and leaders, I thank you. The outpouring of support and the coming together of our community has been truly inspirational to me and has been so helpful to everyone trying to get through this. Led by the B-SIG, members of the NYCC will be presenting David’s family with a gift to David's preferred charities in honor of David at the B-SIG graduation and May NYCC Club meeting on Tuesday May 15 at Annie Moore’s. The NYCC Board of Directors overwhelmingly approved donations in the amount of $100 to each of David's charities. With special thanks to B-SIG leader Gabby Fisher, we have also made arrangements with the Hole in the Wall Gang so that members who choose to contribute directly to the charity on their own may do so, and the amount of your gift will be tallied in with the gift on behalf of the NYCC. I also hope to post information here soon regarding the best way to contribute to Kiva if you might prefer to donate to it instead.

If you are interested in donating to the Hole in the Wall Gang, you may submit donations via telephone or online and indicate that your donation is coming from an NYCC member...

Phone Donations:
If you’d prefer to donate via phone, please call The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp at 203.772.0522 and indicate that this is a NYCC donation on behalf of David Oliner.

Online Donations:
1. Click on following link:
http://www.holeinthewallgang.org/help/default.asp

2. Scroll down to the ""Donate Online"" section and click link for ""Tribute Gift""

3. Fill out required information and click Continue (do NOT click ""This donation is on behalf of a company"")

4. In the ""Payment Information"" section, copy/paste the following in the ""Comments"" field: ""NYCC donation on behalf of David Oliner"". For tracking purposes, the organization has requested consistent verbiage in this field. Therefore, please only copy/paste ""NYCC donation on behalf of David Oliner"" in this field.

5. In the ""This gift is in honor or in memory of someone special"" section, enter David Oliner's name next to the field marked ""or In Memory of""

6. Click ""Proceed to Verification""

Thank you, -Jeff
"

Dear NYCC,

Your response to David's tragic death, has been overwhelming and we can't thank you enough. We know David died doing what he loved, with people he respected and admired. And for this, we are grateful.

We are looking forward to attending your ceremony in May and know that David is very honored and touched by the postings on his thread and the honors you are bestowing on him.

Your support throughout this terrible ordeal has been extraordinary and is symbolic of the extraordiary people you are.

We thank you very much,

Barbara, Ben, and Liz Oliner