Our MRER president shared on the FB group that a fellow endurance rider passed away. He was not much older than me, or maybe was same age or a year younger and he seemed to be in good health just 3 weeks ago at Moab, he was not riding but I had heard he was having some back problems and figured he was either on no riding after surgery or waiting for surgical relief to start back to riding all day events. He was fearless on a horse or dirt bike so I guessed that he had had a tragic accident from the bare announcement of his death.
Tanza's breeder made a comment that says it was a suicide. I was shocked and sad at the thought of a tragic accident, thinking suicide is a full on gut punch. I had wondered if he and his girlfriend? were no longer together this summer but I wasn't in the close circle of friends to know or even to be comfortable with who is in the circle to know and would not mind telling me briefly. I gang-pressed him to hold Tanza for me at Moab so I could make a run for food and was so flip about it; I'm feeling bad now to have been flip and shallow when he was probably hurting emotionally although it was no huge deal to have him hold the horse for me.
Two years ago a well known 100 miler rider in the region committed suicide, I did not know him at all because he had been in the 100 miler circle my whole endurance career and I'm not. Not knowing him but knowing he was gay and hearing he was separated/divorcing from his decades long partner just a couple years after they were able to get married in California I was not shocked/gut punched as I am now and like the close knit group of 100 mile riders that knew him was then. Rambling here, I guess I'm thinking "I know we who dive full on into the endurance sport are all a little bit crazy; but two suicides in 2.x years, WHOA", plus thinking that the old saw that a suicide in the family or close knit group of folks increases the risk of suicide in remaining family or group must be true.
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