In the aftermath of the devastating news that Steve Hulsman was struck and killed while biking in West Seattle, 177 people donated more than $20,000 to help his wife Rita cover costs related to his death. But Rita had a different idea in mind for this money raised with love for her and her late husband: Use it to make streets safer so this doesn’t happen again.
Rita donated $10,000 to both Cascade Bicycle Club and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways to support their work to improve street safety. “I don’t want anyone else to go through what my husband went through and I know the work you do will move that along,” she said to Cascade Executive Director Lee Lambert during a KIRO 7 News report.
The driver who struck and killed Steve, who KIRO 7 News identified as Aaron Ludberg, has not been charged for actions directly related to the collision. He is facing lesser charges for driving with a suspended license and driving without a court-mandated ignition interlock device. We reported previously on the investigation in which SPD’s Traffic Collision Investigation Squad did not begin working the case until after the scene had been cleared and streets were reopened.
Steve sought out difficult rides with lots of climbing, which is why he was riding on Marine View Drive that evening in December. It was a route he had done countless times, and he was scheduled to lead a free group ride along it just days later. After his death, many people posted remembrances of how he had been an encouraging presence to help them complete difficult rides like the annual Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day (RAMROD) event with its 10,000 feet of elevation gain. Rita told KIRO 7 News that Steven didn’t count miles, he counted feet of elevation gain. His goal was to log 1,000,000 feet of climbing to his cycling tracker Strava. When he died, he had climbed 787,641 feet, just 212,359 feet short of his goal.
From Rita:
Dear Tom,
Thank you for your suggestions on which organizations I should consider for distributing the proceeds of the Remembering Steve Hulsman fundraiser I set up on GoFundMe several months ago. After getting acquainted with each organization, I zeroed in on two that seem centered on the kinds of efforts I want to focus on in the aftermath of my husband’s death. And since then I have distributed all of the proceeds of the Remembering Steve Hulsman fundraiser to two organizations.
This evening I posted an update on the Remembering Steve Hulsman GoFundMe page to let the almost 200 donors know how their contributions had been distributed, and I thought you might be interested as well, so I’ve included that update below my signature. Please feel free to share it with your readers if you wish.
Best regards,
Rita Hulsman
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