How Tragic, My thought are with the family. xx

It is with great sadness I learnt of Andy's death this morning. I had only known him since August last year when he and I started at a new work place together and I worked closely with him for the first few weeks. I caught up with Andy last week and he was quite excited and been training hard for the ride. Andy also organised bike rides for cyclists over summer months through the Alps and the stories he used to tell over lunch about these trips were told in such away that it was clear he had such enthusiam, laughter and love for his sport. Being a non-cyclist my self I was still captured by his stories and excitement.

While I'm sure there are others who knew Andy better than I and have been on and shared his trips I thought that it was important to say that he was a lovely bloke who loved cycling and proud of his sport. A keen family man encouraging his children to ride as well. He said last week with pride that his son had was now so keen that he was now challenging him to race up hills as fast as they could.

A truely great bloke and keen rider taken too soon who I didn't know for long enough but I'm happy I got to meet him if only for a brief time.

Thoughts with his wife, children and family

As a family we met Andy several times during the past few years as his and our children attend the same school. His death is a tragic loss to all who knew him and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

He did indeed have a real passion for cycling and as such the cycling community has lost a true and committed enthusiast.

Given the reported circumstances and the history of diesel spillages on roads causing injury or death to cyclists and motorcyclists, I would like to ask:

- what action is being taken by the EU, and European governments, to reduce diesel spillages and educate/punish drivers of vehicles that cause them?

- did other cyclists or tour officials pass by or through the diesel that brought Andy down? If so, was anyone alerted to the risk and could cones have been placed to indicate the hazard?

- could the motorcycle rider that collided with Andy have avoided him through more care and attention? I've seen it said elsewhere on this forum that the rider skidded on the same diesel, which would obviously have made avoidance difficult or nigh impossible.

- given this initial report states "it is understood that the accident occurred once racing had ceased" it seems the accident may have occurred on a road that was not part of the racing stage, but even so if it were known in advance that other riders and vehicles were to be using that road was anything done beforehand to check that the road was free from hazards? Of course the vehicle that caused the spillage may have done so minutes beforehand, but if the road was contaminated a day or more before this is surely unacceptable.

It may well come out that the specific details of the accident mean it was not preventable, but if the full findings of Andy's death show that improvements can be made to mitigate against the same thing happening again then anyone who knew him should campaign for as much to be done as is reasonably possible.

I was about 10m from the incident and saw the whole train of events as I was the group's mechanic, and administered First Aid to Andy in the immediate aftermath.

Whilst the questions that are raised by scmittenhoe are all very valid, it's hard to answer them at present as the whole matter is under investigation, as is normal in such cases, by the local gendarmerie. Hence a semi-public forum like this isn't a place where such matters can be fully discussed until that investigation reaches it's conclusion.

What I can say here is that what we are faced with and are now trying to reconcile is a tragic set of circumstances that I for one can still barely believe, but in which a man lost his life in a way that in my opinion it would not be possible to forsee or prevent.

I hope that once we are in a position to describe the full circumstances of the accident, the very legitimate concerns raised above will be fully answered.

My thoughts are now with Karen, Andy's wife, and the children, and my thanks are extended to all of those on the ride as riders or crew who have contacted myself and the others most closely involved with the accident to offer their support.

Andy was my colleague and we shared the same line manager. Together with Andrew Webber, we last saw him the week before the event when he shared with us his plans. He was so excited and full of life, talking about his family and how supportive his wife has been.

Andy is a really great guy, full of humour and was always there for me if I needed a chat and we often schemed on how to avoid the administrative paper work that comes with our job roles. I shall certainly miss my buddy and there is a empty hole that will take a while to heal.

The whole practice to which he belonged to at work are numb with this tragic loss but our pain is nothing compared with that of his wife and family. Our thoughts are with them.

After Andy's death I became aware of a motorcycling campaign called KillSpills and contacted them to see if a group of cyclists could join their final London ride - dubbed the '617 Ride' as this represents the total number of killed and seriously injured diesel accidents for all UK road users between 2000 and 2005 - in London next Saturday 20 September, yes, short notice sorry and the day before the London Freewheel event to!

KillSpills have clearance from the police to accommodate UP TO 50 cyclists who will make a short 1.5 mile ride under police escort finishing at Downing Street, where they will present a report of their achievements to date, and afterwards return to the starting point (again with police escort). For obvious safety reasons the cyclists will ride in a separate group from the 90 or so motorcyclists.

We currently have only about eight cyclists signed-up, so would welcome others! If you are free and would like to take part, please contact me by email at PedalCyclistsSupportKillSpills{INSERT_AT_SIGN_HERE}googlemail.com as soon as you can so I can give you further details.

Many thanks for reading this. For further details about KillSpills see www.killspills.org.uk