A Durango woman was killed Monday morning in a bicycling accident in Palm Desert, California.
Rose Peters, 73, was cycling with her husband, Jim, when a driver struck her at an intersection around 11:30 a.m., The Desert Sun reported.
She was taken by paramedics to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California, where she was pronounced dead about an hour later, Jim Peters said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Rose Peters was riding a handcycle when a driver in a car made a left turn and struck her from the side. She suffered extensive injuries, he said.
He didn’t ride with her in the ambulance and was unaware that his wife had died until he called several area hospitals to learn about her condition, he said. Just before the accident, he had been waiting for her farther down the road, tracking her workout with a phone app.
The Peterses cycled almost daily. The couple cycled from one coast of the United States to the other several years ago. It’s a fond memory for Jim Peters.
The Peterses met in 1961 at a Columbus, Ohio, restaurant and married after six weeks of dating, according to a 2003 story in The Durango Herald.
The couple has participated in Ride the Rockies and the Bicycle Tour of Colorado.
The Peterses spent the winter months in California in a motor home.
Jim Peters doesn’t plan to return to Durango for another several weeks, he said.
Cremation will take place Tuesday. A small private ceremony will be held in her honor with immediate family and the couple’s two daughters, Jena Peters and Stephanie Jo Lee, in attendance.
