La Canada : Lesson in Cyclist’s Death

The death of mountain biker Roger Dean Dahl, who careened off the Mt. Wilson Toll Road in May, has prompted a popular magazine on the sport to urge cyclists to use more caution.

“The news of Roger’s passing, whether you knew him or not, mutes our immediate pedal strokes,” wrote Zapata Espinoza in the October issue of the Mission Hills-based Mountain Bike Action.

The death of Dahl, 29, of La Canada Flintridge “made a lot of news, among cyclists and non-cyclists alike,” said Espinoza, who recently left Mountain Bike Action to become editor of Mountain Bike.

While Espinoza said, “. . .it’s important to throw a little caution to the wind from time to time,” he also noted, “We are a little less driven to be first, fastest or bravest. . . . Maybe for the rest of our days, we won’t run so close to the edge.”