[NCNCA] Alto Velo Member John Peckham, 1975-2006

[Brian Peterson]

 Bay Area racers and friends,

It is with great sadness and regret that I inform you of the death of Alto
Velo club member John Peckham. Details of his death have been reported in
the Mercury News, the Palo Alto Daily News, and the Palo Alto Weekly. John
was reported to have been hit head on by a driver suspected of being
intoxicated on Friday September 8, 2006 just after noon on Old Page Mill
Road in Los Altos Hills/Palo Alto.

John Peckham was a member of the Webcor/Alto Velo Elite cycling team. He
quickly moved through the ranks, moving from Category 5 to Category 2 in
just over a year. He favored crits since he was naturally a strong sprinter,
but he worked hard to improve all aspects of his cycling. John also enjoyed
riding on the track, where he was a natural. John enjoyed competition, and
had many competitors who were also his friends.

More important than his racing, John was a great teammate who had an easy
going manner and was enthusiastic about everything he did. John had a strong
presence, and a clear confidence despite being very soft spoken. John's
incredible talent, infectious smile, easy demeanor, and positive attitude
were impossible to miss on or off the bike.

Words cannot express the loss we all feel and what John meant to those he
came in contact with. John will be missed greatly by family, friends,
teammates, and the cycling community.

John's family has arranged a memorial service and has invited the racing
community to attend.  The visitation will be on Wednesday September 13, 2006
at Spanglers' Mortuary on Castro Street in Mountain View from 3 pm to 6pm.
 There will be a short memorial service towards the end of the visitation
and if anybody wants to say a few words about John they may do so.

Alto Velo invites you to attend a memorial ride to ride with John's family
and members of the club. Details on the ride will be posted to our website (
http://www.altovelo.org) as soon as they are available.

 We have set up a memorial blog on the Alto Velo web site for stories,
photos, memories, and comments about John at
http://www.altovelo.org/wordpress. Please feel free to post messages
and remembrances.
Doing so would mean a lot to John's family, friends, and teammates. If you
have any pictures of John, please forward them to me at
brian at brusselssprouts.com so that we may post them on the web site.

 John would want us all to be out riding and racing. Keep him and his family
in your thoughts wherever your bike takes you.

Ride safely,
 Brian Peterson
President, Webcor/Alto Velo
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