# Crystal City Classic - Keith Mitchell



## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

I raced the Master 35+ yesterday and had a guy, Keith Mitchell, wreck in front of me after he touched the rear wheel of the guy in front of him. He went down pretty hard and it was a miracle that I didn't run him over. They gave us a "yellow flag" lap and when we went by him he hadn't moved from where he landed. They ended up holding us for 15 minutes while they took him away in an ambulance. Today, at another race, I heard that a guy died at yesterday's race from a seizure while he was warming up. Of course, this is like playing telephone because I don't think the people at today's race really knew what happened.

By any chance, does anybody know how Keith is? I tried to search the internet and I couldn't find a thing, so I figured I would try this forum.


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## wgp (Oct 4, 2005)

I hate to be the bearer of sad sad news, but if Keith is the gentleman who crashed in the Senior 35+ race, he died later at the hospital. Check the posts in the "Pro Cycling" section of RBR - you'll see BAS's initial entry and mine.

The news of his death can also be found under cycling news race results - I've pasted it here:

"Despite the relative success of the the event in it's first year of existence, the day ended with the tragic news of the death of an amateur rider. The local racer from Alexandria, Virginia - a 51 year old male who was participating in the 35+ Men's Amateur event Saturday morning - suffered medical distress during his race. He was treated at the scene by paramedics from the Arlington County Fire Department (who were staffing the race) and was transported to George Washington University Hospital where he was pronounced dead later in the day."

I have been totally upset since yesterday. If you have news of any service for him (I understand he was from Alexandria), kindly post it here.

Again, my heart goes out to his family and friends.

(edited for spelling)


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

Trust me, I have been pretty upset myself. When Keith wrecked right in front of me without ever taking his hands off the bars as he slid across the pavement, the group took off to push the pace and after I was through braking hard and swerving right to avoid him, I took off after the group so I wouldn't get dropped. The next time around, at a much slower pace, I got to see him laying in the same position he was in when he hit the ground. Once the race was finished, I gave a written statement to the law enforcement officers there and was told that he was in critical condition. This, after seeing him racing pretty hard on his Colnago Dream Mapei in the 50+ category at the last three races I was at and thinking about how cool it would be to race againt him. The man fell down and was dying and not one of us stopped to see how he was. His teammates were asking who it was once the pace was slowed and they stopped when we came back around to him. Trust me, I have been dealing with this all day. I am just hoping that the medical complications came first and are the cause of the wreck and that the wreck didn't cause the medical complications (i.e., I am hoping that racing had nothing to do with it).

I have no idea when services will be held, but like you, I would also like to attend.


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## bas (Jul 30, 2004)

Well, when you are going that fast, you don't really have time to stop and ask questions.

So there weren't any other riders that went down as a result?





fabsroman said:


> Trust me, I have been pretty upset myself. When Keith wrecked right in front of me without ever taking his hands off the bars as he slid across the pavement, the group took off to push the pace and after I was through braking hard and swerving right to avoid him, I took off after the group so I wouldn't get dropped. The next time around, at a much slower pace, I got to see him laying in the same position he was in when he hit the ground. Once the race was finished, I gave a written statement to the law enforcement officers there and was told that he was in critical condition. This, after seeing him racing pretty hard on his Colnago Dream Mapei in the 50+ category at the last three races I was at and thinking about how cool it would be to race againt him. The man fell down and was dying and not one of us stopped to see how he was. His teammates were asking who it was once the pace was slowed and they stopped when we came back around to him. Trust me, I have been dealing with this all day. I am just hoping that the medical complications came first and are the cause of the wreck and that the wreck didn't cause the medical complications (i.e., I am hoping that racing had nothing to do with it).
> 
> I have no idea when services will be held, but like you, I would also like to attend.


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## bas (Jul 30, 2004)

fabsroman said:


> I Today, at another race, I heard that a guy died at yesterday's race from a seizure while he was warming up. Of course, this is like playing telephone because I don't think the people at today's race really knew what happened.


Was that the accident over at the Pentagon parking lot? 

Maybe those stories got merged?

Did you race RFK today? I was over there from noon to 4:00 pm. See the "I met Von" thread in The Lounge.


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

I completely avoided him and thought that the guy on my left was going to nail him, but I don't remember seeing him go down. Then again, I wasn't really looking back after I cleared Keith. I was only thinking that I was lucky that he slid off to the left and I was able to make the cut to the right and that I was unlucky in having to try to catch the main group. I really thought I was going to be going down when I saw him start to fall, but I was on the brakes before he even started falling, so I guess that is what saved my rear. After being involved in enough wrecks as a junior, I know the sound of wheels touching.


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## Kat419 (Jun 18, 2007)

*Service for Keith*



wgp said:


> I hate to be the bearer of sad sad news, but if Keith is the gentleman who crashed in the Senior 35+ race, he died later at the hospital. Check the posts in the "Pro Cycling" section of RBR - you'll see BAS's initial entry and mine.
> 
> The news of his death can also be found under cycling news race results - I've pasted it here:
> 
> ...


Keith died of a heart attack. He was pronounced dead at GW Hospital that same afternoon. The family is planning to hold his funeral this Saturday. I will post more information when it becomes available.


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## bas (Jul 30, 2004)

Kat419 said:


> Keith died of a heart attack. He was pronounced dead at GW Hospital that same afternoon. The family is planning to hold his funeral this Saturday. I will post more information when it becomes available.



I looked online and saw some of his results. He seemed to be doing pretty well this year.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/USA/*2007/may07*/may05poolesville

Master 50+

1 John Olinski (AVC/Team Hagerstown Wasington Co.) 
*2 Keith Mitchell (Team Hall Nissan) * 
3 Randall Root (ABRT/Latitude) 
4 Ron Ruggiero (Tri-State Velo) 
5 Greg Werth (Clean Currents p/b Don Beyer Volvo) 
6 Ronald Sutherland (NCVC/Inova Health System) 
7 Stephen Schultze (Clean Currents p/b Don Beyer Volvo) 
8 John R. Ver Brycke Iv (ABRT/Latitude) 
9 Jim Bronson (LSV/Kelly Benefit Strategies) 
10 Paul White (Evolution Cycling) 
11 Brian Johnston (NCVC/Inova Health System) 
12 Mike Harris (King Pawn/Cheapeake Wheelmen) 
13 Ad Bax (Artemis) 
14 Galen Wallace (LSV/Kelly Benefit Strategies) 
15 Paul Czapiewski (Clean Currents p/b Don Beyer Volvo) 
16 Rich Fristik (Squadra Coppi/IM Saab) 
17 Peter Czapiewski (AMVC/DND Inc) 
18 Kerry Scanlon (Clean Currents p/b Don Beyer Volvo) 
DNF Kevin Brown (Kingpawn/CW) 
DNF Mark Frick (Clean Currents p/b Don Beyer Volvo) 
DNF Bill Love (Bicycle Place Velo Club) 

http://www.bikereg.com/Results/*2007/05/20*-Leonardtown-Criterium.asp

Masters 50,60
Finishing Place Rider Name

1 Paul Mittelstadt
2 Michael Blye
3 Thomas Bain
*4 Keith Mitchell*
5 Steve Schultz
6 John Olinski
7 Kenny Scanlon
8 Terry Hannigan
9 Bob Walters
10 Greg Weith
11 Andrew Hepburn
12  Michael Harris
13 Michael Hill
14 Peter Czapiewski
15 John Cox
16 William Morris
17 John Patrakis
18 David Hammond
19 Max Rogozinski
20 James Wagner


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

Kat,

Thanks for the info. When you get the funeral info, I'd appreciate it if you would post it. I'm going to try to make the funderal depending on when the Church Creek Time Trial ends for me.


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

BAS,

How did you get those results off of BikeReg? I rarely wait around to see what my results are after a race (e.g., Carytown Cycles Crit yesterday), so it would be pretty cool to see what my results have been. Just looked at my profile on BikeReg today and found out that I placed 13th at Bike Jam instead of the 14th that I had guessed.


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## bas (Jul 30, 2004)

fabsroman said:


> BAS,
> 
> How did you get those results off of BikeReg? I rarely wait around to see what my results are after a race (e.g., Carytown Cycles Crit yesterday), so it would be pretty cool to see what my results have been. Just looked at my profile on BikeReg today and found out that I placed 13th at Bike Jam instead of the 14th that I had guessed.


I don't think all races are submitted to Bike Reg.

I searched his name and cycling on google like this: keith mitchell cycling 
and those 2 links showed up.

How did Carytown Crit go?

I did that last year when it was Rowlett's. Man - dude lost control of his bike and flipped over his handle bars on the back part in the turn where it is all bumpy. Another dude went into the left hand side gutter on a later lap approaching the finish line (assuming the first time) - and found the pothole. He went over his handle bars too - but took no one with him.

I avoided the first crash by going around. 

Thats a course I don't necessarily ever want to go back to.

The RFK crit is pretty nice - SUPER SMOOTH roads.. its the old gran prix course or something. Check out the pictures in the Hey I met Von thread on the Lounge.

I might try to get in that one next year if I continue racing.


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## Kat419 (Jun 18, 2007)

Will do. Hopefull I'll know something by tomorrow.


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

Carytown was okay. The race was pretty easy and I thought it was going to be my first win of the year or podium at least, but some Nature's Choice Team, or somethng to that effect, had a different idea about it. The course does suck and the guys were terrible on the slight uphill portion of the course. It was easy to take that hill in a 53x15 and keep on cranking, but none of these guys would take that hill hard. One guy almost shoved me into a pothole, but I was able to get around him before the pothole came up. I don't think that there were any crashes, but I'm not sure.

On a side note, the race officials were talking about the death at Crystal City and saying that the guy died while warming up for the race. When I asked them if they were sure, and if it was possible that it was the wreck that I saw, they said that there was no way. Yeah, right. Since I hadn't done either race before, and I had already signed up for the Carytown Crit before the RFK Crit was up on Bike Reg (i.e., I knew nothing about it), I decided to do the Carytown Crit. Trust me, it would have been a much shorter drive to RFK than Richmond.


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## bas (Jul 30, 2004)

fabsroman said:


> I decided to do the Carytown Crit. Trust me, it would have been a much shorter drive to RFK than Richmond.


I think in previous years RFK race was more towards July/August.

The Bunny Hop crit (April/May) is a FLAT as a pancake course, 3 turns, ~ 1 mile... VERY FAST.. When I did Cat 5 there a couple years ago, it was single file, and I ended up yo-yoing in the corners off the back.. so I blew up after a 6 or 7 laps?... 

Bobby Phillips Turkey Day race is pretty safe.. that's one of the last road races of the year. It's on Tradezone Ave, in Suitland, MD. 3 turns, little hills, long slightly downhill finish.


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

My worst wreck ever was on the Ellipse behind the White House. That race was super fast. It was completely flat and it had no turns. They gave us a pace truck for the first lap and we were drafting it at 35 mph. A slight hole opened in the pack and both me and another guy met in it as we tried to fill it. The wreck wasn't pretty. I remember guys sliding into me and then me getting up and wondering why all my cuts weren't bleeding. Then, the blood started pouring out. Did another flat, no corner race in Allentown on an airport runway. Jonas Carney didn't even want to do that one. Needless to say, there was a wreck and a huge pileup. I ended up landing on top of some guy and got a spoke in my knee, but that wasn't too bad. Jonas and I decided to sit the remainder of that race on the sidelines. Yep, I hate flat races with no, or few, corners. Personally, I prefer a course with a nice hill on it so that the speed slows down and the people that are not fit get dropped before things get faster.


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## bas (Jul 30, 2004)

fabsroman said:


> My worst wreck ever was on the Ellipse behind the White House. That race was super fast. It was completely flat and it had no turns. They gave us a pace truck for the first lap and we were drafting it at 35 mph. A slight hole opened in the pack and both me and another guy met in it as we tried to fill it. The wreck wasn't pretty. I remember guys sliding into me and then me getting up and wondering why all my cuts weren't bleeding. Then, the blood started pouring out. Did another flat, no corner race in Allentown on an airport runway. Jonas Carney didn't even want to do that one. Needless to say, there was a wreck and a huge pileup. I ended up landing on top of some guy and got a spoke in my knee, but that wasn't too bad. Jonas and I decided to sit the remainder of that race on the sidelines. Yep, I hate flat races with no, or few, corners. Personally, I prefer a course with a nice hill on it so that the speed slows down and the people that are not fit get dropped before things get faster.


I guess that all makes sense 

How long ago was the race at the White House? Who had sponsored it?


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

The race at the White House was when I was 16, so it was 20 years ago. I have no idea who the sponsor was. They had the race for at least another two years because my coach kept trying to get me to do it and I kept refusing.


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## Kat419 (Jun 18, 2007)

*Services For Keith Mitchell*

Services for Keith will be help this Saturday at St. Paul Temple Church of God in Christ at 2235 16th Street, NE, Washington DC 20018 (202-526-8160).

The viewing will be from 9 to 11am with the service to follow.

Burial will be at the Mt. Comfort Cemetery on North King Highway in Alexandria.


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