US cycling champ Ethan Boyes killed by driver in San Francisco

An elite USA cycling champion was tragically struck and killed by a driver while biking in San Francisco this week, police said.

Ethan Boyes, 44, reportedly died on Tuesday after he was hit while cycling in the bike lane in the city’s Presidio park.

The accomplished competitive track racer and San Francisco native won several national cycling titles including the 2018 and 2019 USA Cycling Masters Track National Champion, and is listed as the national record holder for the 500-meter “flying start” track time trial, according to USA Cycling.

US Parks Police told The San Francisco Chronicle that officers responded to a crash between a car and a bicyclist on a federally-owned stretch of Arguello Boulevard around 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

Responders found Boyes with serious injuries at the scene. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, Parks Police said.

The driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was also taken to a hospital, police said. 

It’s not clear if drugs or alcohol were involved. A family spokesperson told the newspaper police could not say whether or not the driver was arrested, but confirmed that the driver was detained.

“Ethan was a very experienced cyclist and well regarded in the cyclist community,” Shaana Rahman, a spokesperson for the family, told The Chronicle Thursday evening. “This is a pretty devastating loss for the family and for the San Francisco cycling community.”

No additional details about the crash were immediately available. Police said the incident remains under investigation.

His death shocked the local cycling community where Boyes was a beloved fixture and could often be found at the Polo Fields cycling track in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, according to SFGate.

“He was literally one of the nicest people I’ve ever met — not only in the small circle of track cycling… but anywhere!” track cyclist and former teammate Karl Baumgart wrote in a heartfelt post on Facebook. “… He also just so happened to be one of the fastest sprinters in the World.”

Boyes’ longtime pal and owner of Paragon Fit Studio Brian Keyte told The Chronicle that he learned the terrible news from Boyes’ girlfriend. Boyes and Keyte met over a decade ago during a group ride through the city.

“Ethan’s a really popular guy. He’s a world-champion track racer,” Keyte said. “Just a super, super great guy.” 

Keytes told the paper that Boyes was riding in the bike lane when the car hit him head-on.

In a post on the Nextdoor app, Stephanie Wald wrote that she “witnessed a horrific accident” on Arguello Boulevard in the Presidio Tuesday in which a “speeding car heading north careened into the opposite lane and hit a cyclist,” according to The Chronicle.

Ward’s post said the bicyclist “slammed head first into the [car’s] windshield, and noted the driver appeared “dazed and bloody.”

Keytes said that he and other members of the cycling community hope that Boyes’ death brings greater awareness to bike safety in the city.

There have been 34 bike fatalities in the city since 2010 and has seen at least one bike fatality every year since 2014, according to The Chronicle.

Boyes was originally from Boone, North Carolina, according to his Facebook page.