Katherine Y. Cudlipp, 68, who retired in 1991 as minority chief counsel to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, died July 28 at Washington Hospital Center, five days after sustaining severe spinal cord injuries in a bicycling accident. She fell from her bike in Rock Creek Park.
I believe this was the same fall that was mentioned here (the timing is right). The post link is broken but it's also detailed here.
A woman is in critical condition at an area hospital after a passerby performed CPR on her at Rock Creek Park on Saturday morning, Park Police say.
Authorities say that the victim was riding her bike near Grove 1 Pierce Mill at about 7:30 a.m. when she apparently suffered a cardiac event.
What it sounds like is the cardiac event caused the fall, and the fall caused the death. [Update: according to one commenter, there was no cardiac event. She was thrown from her bike, possibly due to a metal grate, but no one knows for sure as she was left paralyzed and unable to communicate. She was wearing a helmet.] Terribly sad. She sounds like a remarkable woman, a Fullbright scholar and in college the student government president and editor of the student newspaper.
She led Potomac Peddler group rides and participated in the 2002 AIDS ride from Raleigh, N.C., to the District.
She was also a major donor to WABA.
This is the fourth area cyclist fatality (if one counts it as such) this year and oddly, 3 out of 4 don't involve a car.
That's very sad.
(Aargh! Wash Post, it's "Pedalers" not "Peddlers.")
Posted by: Nancy | August 18, 2011 at 09:26 AM
I knew Kate and have heard from friends what happened. It was not a cardiac event. Kate was riding across a grassy area to avoid the construction at Pierce Mill. Suddenly she was thrown from her bike. No one saw the fall happen, they only saw her lying there afterward. Unfortunately, Kate was paralyzed and couldn't speak after the accident, so she was never able to tell anyone exactly what happened. But her heart was fine -- not a cardiac event. A friend later went to where Kate was found and noticed that there is a metal grate in that area that is somewhat hidden by the grass. That could have been what caused her bike to stop suddenly. Truly tragic. (Also, in case people are wondering, she *was* wearing a helmet.)
Posted by: Liesel W. | August 18, 2011 at 01:16 PM
very sad.
my heart goes out to all that knew and loved her.
Posted by: gwadzilla | August 19, 2011 at 04:06 PM