Roger Street Remembered

BC Randonneurs Cycling Club

- Roger Street -
1947 - 2003
(June 14, 1947 - February 25, 2003)

BC Randonneurs Member #482
(Database)

Roger Street Remembered
by Eric Fergusson

On Tuesday morning (Feb 25, 2003) at about 6:45 Roger Street had a heart attack and died while riding his bicycle. It happened at 16th and Blanca.

The heart attack is unexpected. By all accounts Roger was in excellent shape. He had done a fast 100 km training ride on Sunday and was looking forward to a quick SIR (Seattle) Populaire this coming Saturday.

Roger has been a central figure in BC Randonneurs since he rode his first brevets in 1993. He is a two-time finisher at both Paris Brest Paris and the Rocky Mountain 1200, and a six-time super randonneur. He is one of only 9 BC riders to have earned 2 Brevet Randonneur 5000 pins (sometimes called 'Super 5000'.) In 1998 he was the winner of the John Hathaway Award with an event distance total of 5676 km... and it was Roger who first started calling the award by the name we all now commonly use - the Iron Butt Award. In 2000, he was looking for a change of pace and rode across Canada - Spanish Banks to Cape Spear, Nfld. - 7433 km, average riding speed 25 km/hr, 151 km/day.

In the fall of 1998 Roger became club treasurer, and oversaw the period of extraordinary growth which followed. For the four years that he was on the randonneur committee his strong opinions, bluntness, and clarity of thought helped keep the club on track on an ongoing basis. It would not be going too far to say that by 2002 he had become the conscience of the randonneur committee. In 2002 he teamed up with wife Sharon to co-direct the Rocky Mountain 1200 - perhaps our club's finest moment.

Roger's wife Sharon is another central figure in BC Randonneurs. In addition to co-directing the RM 1200 last summer, she co-organized the Pacific Populaire in 2001 and 2002. She frequently supported Roger and other riders on brevets and flèches, and has been a familiar sight on event days for many years.

This is a loss that is no doubt difficult for everyone. Me included. Roger was a great friend, and there is no one whom I admired more. I can't believe he's really gone. I will miss him greatly, and remember him always. Good-bye Roger.

February 27, 2003

Obituary:
This account of Roger's life is from a card that was handed out at Roger's wake. It included a lot of interesting stuff that maybe you didn't know... Reproduced here:

Roger Neil Street, 1947 - 2003