A Hill for Grandpa

My Grandpa died unexpectedly at the age of 83. This sounds strange to some. He was an elderly man. But it sounds even stranger to us to refer to him as elderly. The man was incredible. He did things as a grandfather that amazed and astounded.

In his 70's he hiked The Narrows in Zion's National Park with my parents. I'm talking about the long overnight hike.

As an 80 year old he joined a street bicycling group that rode from Highland to Cedar City. They even wrote about it in the papers. People could not believe this "elderly" man was so able bodied. It was no shock to his family of course.

Recently he talked about how he was slowing down. But even so he remained very active. He skied all winter and was still out riding his bike as often as he could-- though he said he didn't plan on anymore more rides to Cedar City ;). In fact riding his bike was exactly what he was doing when he died. He was riding up-- or down I'm still not clear on that-- a hill that his friends, and fellow cyclists, had come to call "Lloyds Hill". He suffered a sudden heart attack, fell over and died. The people that found him say his feet were still on the pedals.

They wrote about it in the papers: "Elderly Man Found Dead in the Road". It still sounds so strange, "Elderly". It's hard for me to think of this article being about my Grandpa. Each time I read the title I have to remind myself that they are talking about him. I wish I could tell them more about them, so they would know the man they found was anything but elderly. I guess the best way to do that is to tell everyone about "Lloyds Hill".



Some friends of my grandfather had a sign made for "Lloyds Hill". Now maybe when people ride up it they will ask questions. Maybe people will find more out about this man who passed away on this hill and come to know him as we do. The friend that had the sign made even plans to start a blog so people can share their experiences as they ride up "Lloyds Hill".

I'm happy to know I can share this small piece of my Grandpa with people. That maybe they can come to know this exceptional 83 year old man. Thank you to those who put up this sign. It really means a lot to me.