On Thursday, July 27th 2023, Volker Weiss (VW) was riding his bicycle on Maui and was hit and killed by a person driving erratically. More details.
HBL was contacted by VW’s family, who have asked that a donation page be established to support advocacy work towards safer streets for people who ride bicycles, especially focused on Maui.
HBL sends our condolences to VW’s family and the riding community of Maui. We will continue to push for safer streets for all, in honor of VW and so many others, as we work towards our mission. Donations made in VW’s memory will go towards our advocacy efforts to create safe streets at the state level (though legislative efforts and work with Hawai’i DOT) as well as at the local level with Maui county officials and through our chapter, Maui Bicycling League.
From VW’s family member Marina Riker:
“Volker came into my life when I was a teenager. He tried so, so, so hard over the years to earn me and my sister’s trust and love. He became the best dad we could ever ask for.
He was the kind of person who always told you how much he loved you, how proud of you he was. He loved my mom more than anything. He showed it to her and told anyone who might listen every day.
Volker was so happy and was among the rare individuals who genuinely was in love with his life. Little things like a good espresso, fresh baked bread or HI Spice’s new hot sauce flavors thrilled him. He also had such big dreams. He dreamed of taking my mom on a road trip in a van across the country. He told my mom in the days before he died that he wanted to train for the Cycle To The Sun. Next to my mom, cycling on Maui was his great love, and he spent so many mornings cycling 80 miles or more around the West Maui Mountains and climbing high up the slopes of Haleakala.
For those on Maui, a ride of silence has been planned for Sunday, August 6th – more details.
