It is with great sadness we must announce that we have lost a close friend, a great person, a fellow cyclist, a TTTT Racer and volunteer. Todd Martin died last week while riding his bike. Todd was our TTTT Webmaster. It may take some time for us to lay our friend to rest and pick up the pieces that he so proudly put together for all of us. We will miss you dearly Todd.

Todd George Martin was the best friend a cyclist could ever have and we were all lucky to call him friend. That could sum it all up, but Mr. Martin touched so many people in so many ways that there aren't enough words. He lived many lives in his short time and found his home with cycling. He had been heard to say the last 6 years were the happiest years of his life.

Born May 4, 1963 in Walnut Creek, CA, Mr. Martin moved to Ohio at the age of 14 to live with his grandfather. In his early 20's, he moved to North Texas where he called home until his untimely death.

Upon hearing of his unexpected death at the age of 46, cyclists and friends throughout North Texas expressed disbelief and dismay. The picture of health, Mr. Martin, "Hott Toddie" to so many, displayed the grace, character and humanity, we all strive for. Always the first to help and always the first to encourage, Mr. Martin was the ever-present smile, the cool head under pressure and the conscience to live your life as you would like others to know you.

Most knew him as a cyclist first and foremost, he rode with two primary clubs and logged tens of thousands of miles first with the Fort Worth Bicycle Association and then with Lone Star Randonneurs. With both groups, he was a quiet leader.

Becoming more active in the social media format Facebook, Mr. Martin wrote of himself:

"They told me when I was in high school that when I got older, I would still be acting like I teenager, doing crazy stuff, playing with some of the same toys I used to play with and stuff. I guess they were right. I still do and I love it. The toys cost a little more nowadays but everything does. I never wanted some of the regular stuff everyone else has, I do my own thing. Regular has just never been a word I would use to describe myself."

 

A Collection of Comments Posted by Friends

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Oh, I am deeply saddened by this terrible news.

Todd loved riding his bike and I know how much he enjoyed being out there with all his cycling buddies. I know personally how contagious his enthusiasm for cycling was. I remember many bike rides where he and I rode together, me following behind him because he had just purchased a new GPS device he was so very proud of. I thought surely I could ride unfamiliar courses without doing bonus miles if only I followed Todd. Well I was right in theory at least, turned out Todd wasn't so familiar with its operation and on more than a couple of occasions we ended up earning a few bonus miles anyway. Todd always did have a good sense of humor and after realizing we were off course once again, we would laugh about it all the way back to the original course. This inadvertently inspired us to work on our sprinting techniques. It was this kind of experience on a bike ride that always added color to our memories of it.

Todd was always first to offer to help a fellow cyclist in need. Once on a 200K, I had a blowout and Todd came along and gave me his only spare tire, a brand new one, even though we still had miles and miles yet to go before the finish.

Todd's willingness to help also extended beyond cycling and when we asked him to help with the TTTT website he immediately volunteered. He put in as much effort into being webmaster as he had put into his cycling.

For all you did for me and for your fellow cyclists, I thank you Todd. I will miss you and your memories will always be with me.

I extend my condolences to his family and loved ones. God bless his soul.

Jorge Ruiz

We were doing a 600k in Houston a couple of years ago. Brenda and I talked Todd into driving down to join us. It was the first time that he had driven that far south. Brenda and I shared our room with him.

We met him in the parking lot to help with his bags and bike. When he got all his stuff in the room, Brenda and I gathered around to check out his stuff. I noticed that he had three Subway Sandwiches. I said, "Todd, we were planning to eat at the pizza place tonight", he replied, "That's fine, I have these sandwiches for the weekend".

He stuffed one of these beasts in his pack the first day and kept the other two in his bag for later in the weekend. By Sunday they looked pretty wilted and I thought, "surely he isn't going to eat those things". How wrong I was.

He sure loved his Subway sandwiches.

Todd had a pretty clever sense of humor. I remember once at a convenience store somewhereoutthere, when an older lady was kind of flirty with him. I asked why he didn't respond in same, he said that he had to conserve his charm, as there wasn't much of it to go around.

I remember another time when we were riding somewhereoutthere and we were on a road that did not have a shoulder. There were a couple of big trucks coming up behind us and instead of delaying the trucks he pulled off the road and let them pass. He was always a great ambassador on rides and he made a point to stay as safe as possible.

I will miss you Todd. God bless you and keep you until we see you next.

Rani Freeman

This summer I fell off the group and had real trouble breathing like an athesma attack. I caught the group at the next store and left with them only to fall off again, the breathing trouble began to come back. From behind came a voice telling me breath deep and slow, coaching me to take it easy, to settle in and it would be fine, a voice that kept assuring me. Of course it was Todd. I got the breathing under control and thanked him and told him to go ahead, I was fine. He told me very emphatically he would stay with me and get me in and he did just that.

Also this spring Todd and I were riding out on day two of a 600 km and I broke a cable. I assumed my ride was over, oh no he said, lets get to the next store and I'll put a new cable on, he was carrying an extra. In the length of time it took me to take care of my business in the store he put his new cable on my bike and I was back on the road, he saved my ride.

This is just the two times Todd helped me out this year. Last year and the year before there were others. He always seemed to be willing help people out. He was always willing to offer helpful hints. Thats the way Todd Martin was, he was a really good man.

Todd died riding his bike, okay long before a man should die at age 46, but how many people get the chance to die doing the one thing they enjoy the most, its not entirely bad. We can cry for ourselves, no need to cry for Todd, he is in a far better place and he is riding his bike.

Vickie Tyer

I only knew Todd from his cycling pursuits, but what I saw was a man who exemplified the two major tenants of randonneuring: be self-sufficient and assist others in succeeding.

I have a vivid memory of Todd tearing down and rebuilding his rear shifter in a convenience store parking lot. How many of us would be comfortable taking apart an essential part of our bike 100 miles from our car? To Todd, it was no big deal.

Earlier this year, Todd and I rode the Tippecanoe and Tyler Too route together. We were the only ones to brave the rain that day. That was probably the most riding I ever did with Todd at one time. He was usually waaay ahead of me on rides, but that day we rode together and had a thoroughly enjoyable ride despite the rain.

I can only imagine that Todd lived his life off the bike as he did on it. And for that, we've all lost a friend.

George Evans

Todd, Brenda, Robin & I shared the most difficult ride I have ever done. It was a 400K in Houston. We rode 125 miles into a steady strong wind out of the north.

Todd started out too fast as usual and pulled for an extended period. Every time I pulled around to give him a break he slowly inched past me to regain the lead. Finally I gave up trying to help and settled in behind his wheel. He continued pulling for the majority of the way out until he finally blew-up. That was Todd.

Dan & Pam were close behind us, catching us several times at controls. At our last control before the turnaround we joined Dan & Pam for the final stretch. Todd's earlier effort had taken its toll on his patience and he was quite vocal in expressing his displeasure with the way the group was riding. That was Todd.

After the turnaround we all looked forward to 125 miles of tail wind. We got our tail wind but we also got rapidly falling temperatures. As we headed back Brenda, Robin & I put on all the clothes we had. Robin hadn't brought enough clothes and was very cold but Todd as usual was prepared. He loaned Robin a thermal undershirt that saved her. That also was Todd.

Sometimes when Todd was grumpy it took my best jokes to make him laugh.

I'll miss Todd's cheerfulness, grumpiness and snowy white legs. I'll miss teasing him about Campy and competing with Gary.

I'll miss my friend Todd.

Val

Todd was all about extra miles. I have ridden thousands of them with Todd. Todd was one of my first friends when I moved to Texas about eight years ago. My best memory of Todd was last year's Leakey Death Ride.

Todd always went to Leakey, but last year he was having some hard times and could not afford to go. At the last minute my wife Dana was called into work that weekend because a nurse was fired at her job. I asked Todd if he wanted to take Dana's spot on the tour and he said he could not repay me. I said the spot was already paid for so it was no problem.

On Thursday we drove to Bandera and hung out and ate dinner. We walked the streets and down by the river and just chewed the fat. I really go to know Todd's past an how much he loved Texas and his bicycling friends.

On Friday we ate pancakes at the OST Cafe and got on the bikes. I attacked the hills and Todd attacked the flats. We beat each other up. We danced up Condor's Nest and Vanderpool Hill and made it to Leakey around noon. The whole time we were yoyoing some racers from San Antonio. Once we all got to the Frio Pecan Farm they were done. Todd and I asked them if they would like to do some extra miles. They were too tired to even answer. Todd and I then rode to Camp Wood and back doing that three mile pass both ways. We got back to Leakey and still had more time before dinner. So we rode some more extra miles to Uvalde and back. We had over 150 miles that day.

On Saturday we rode the 100 mile loop an hammered the hills beating each other up and chasing those racers from San Antonio. We chased those racers back to Leakey so much that they dropped one of their female riders. After arriving at Leakey Todd and I did some extra miles and went back out and rescued the female racer who was lost south of Camp Wood. After she was safe in Leakey we went out again and found our FWBA friends and rode in with them.

On Sunday we added extra miles to the beginning of the ride by going to Uvalde again. We ate breakfast at, you guessed it, Subway and then caught our FWBA friends in Lost Maples. We rode the rest of the way back to Bandera and a more social pace. By the time we got to Bandera we had ridden more than 400 miles that weekend and our legs stung.

We drove back listening to 80s rock on Todd's iPod plugged into my truck's stereo. We cranked the tunes so loud that I didn't hear my radar detector go off and we got pulled over. All I got was a warning, but at least we turned the tunes down.

A week later Todd came up to me before the ride and said he had no money to repay me. He handed me a Campagnolo Chorus Triple crankset and said this is all he had. I was considering a triple for my next distance bike so I graciously accepted his "payment".

I installed that triple on my Merlin and used that bike at the Tejas 500. That little 30-tooth granny sure felt nice on the last four laps and I was the first to finish. Todd also kicked butt on the 24-hour race. We both trained this year together on many rides and we added extra miles always.

I will keep that triple crankset forever in memory of my friend Todd. I will miss him dearly.

Long live the Salamander King (that's another story),

Gary Gottlieb

I first met Todd out at River Legacy Park when he was still skating. The rest of us had fitness style skates while Todd wore hockey inlines. Despite the disadvantage of a shorter chassis, he was able to skate just as fast (if not faster at times) and just as far as the rest of us. One day he shows up and he has a Bianchi and from that point on, he always seemed to be on the bike. I started back riding road bikes in March 2007 (used to ride a lot as a teenager) and would see Todd out riding pretty much every day. We started riding together once or twice a week when he was out at River Legacy and he was more than willing to help me improve. Learned how to ride in a paceline, how to use the wind to your advantage and other tips that have helped me ride faster and longer. Even though Todd always rode considerably more miles than I did, he'd tell me not to judge myself against other riders because there will always be someone better. Instead, focus on riding regularly and that with the miles, increased speed and endurance would follow. If I only rode 50 miles the previous week he'd tell me "that's 50 more than if you didn't ride at all".

I'm really going to miss seeing him out at River Legacy, those two LED lights approaching me as we'd pass in opposite directions and the conversations we'd have about not just riding but life in general when we'd ride together. I'll miss how he'd gently push me to ride at speeds and distances I didn't think I could do. I'll miss when we'd stop at the 7 mile turnaround and a fellow roadie would turn around and keep going and after a minute or so, Todd would say "let's chase him down". In short, I'm going to miss my friend. Godspeed Todd.

Scott

My name is Mike Egbert from Columbia, South Carolina, and I am the elder brother of Robert Egbert who is a very close friend of Todd Martin. My son Michael and I, finally met Todd at the 2008 Hotter en Hell rally, and we would wish to extend our condolences to you for the loss of your friend and cycling family member, Todd Martin. When I heard the news I was very saddened not just because Todd died doing what he truly loved to do which is cycling but also by how much he is going to be missed by Robert and the Ft. Worth cycling community. I am sure he will never be forgotten and comfort will be found in the fine memories of how Todd lived his life.

Robert mentioned that Todd was adopted and was somewhat estranged from his adopted family. He mentioned that the Ft. Worth cycling community really was Todd's family. Todd mentioned to Robert that the happiest years of his life was after he got into cycling which resulted in great, lasting friendships.

I was looking forward to riding in the 2010 Hotter en Hell with Todd again. To compete with him was a different story as I was logging 5,000 miles a year the last 2 years, Todd was logging close to 15,000. His last posted ride on bike journal was 317.60 miles in a 24 hour race which is an amazing feat. He came in second place. Robert would train the whole year to compete with Todd in the Hotter en Hell. Robert beat Todd for many years but Todd's training and perseverance paid off as he had beaten Robert the past 3 years. We will miss our long distance friend Todd. Even more, we will miss the good times that were to come when we were again to meet Todd and Robert and see who trained the hardest during the entire year to claim the distinction of coming in first ahead of the others which fueled the friendship even more.

Todd had a huge and brave heart, a heart of a prince, like his nickname Princelad.

Mike Egbert

I know that most of the LSR's have ridden many thousands of K's with Todd Martin, but I only rode with Todd once. It was after Thanksgiving last year when Gary had lined up a bunch of rides for the holidays for FWBA and then Gary broke his collar bone. Todd picked up the ball and arranged some rides to take the place of Gary's. The week before that I had ventured out to mineral wells with the intention of riding George Elizondo's Bryson 100K. After getting lost finding the start it was way past the start time on my control card, so all I ended up doing was driving the route to see what I had signed up for. Well, I saw the three amigos and I knew I was way out of my league. I wasn't going to ask George for a new control card.

That next week though was a ride that Todd was having for Gary's replacement and I looked at the ride map and there were the three amigos staring back at me. I knew I had to face my fear and attempt those hills. I showed up for the ride and the only other person there was Todd. I told him about my fear and he told me that I could do any hill---I just had to do it at my speed, not somebody else's. He said it with so much confidance that I started to believe it myself. Then we tackled the three amigos and I think my top speed was 4 MPH. Todd could do the hills about three times to my one. He was very patient though and if he was annoyed about my lack of speed he certainly didn't let on about it. I remember seeing him looking out over the hills and proclaiming how much he loved riding the roads in that area. He said it more than once. I guess that is why he chose the Peaster ride today over the Greenville ride. Todd gave me some great advice about pedaling mechanics that day and I have taken that advice and tried to apply it consistently to be a better biker.

Todd's advice and experience will continue to help me improve my biking skills and everytime I am in mineral wells tackling a hill I am going to look over the countryside and remember how I saw Todd look at that countryside that day and proclaim how much he loved it. God Bless Todd.

Jeri

I am deeply saddened by the loss of Todd Martin. He was a good friend and one of the most dedicated cyclists I have ever known. I met Todd about ten years ago when I first started riding at River Legacy, long before I joined LSR. He was there almost every day, riding his bike...always friendly and talkative. Don't know of anyone who didn't like him.

Since then, I've ridden with Todd many times on Brevets and Permanents. He was one of my favorite riding buddies. Always positive, even when the going got tough.

I'll miss you Todd.

Jerry Austin

I will surely miss riding at River Legacy and not seeing Todd out there. I met Todd a couple years back out at the park; at first I was one of the slow guys that got in the way as he flew past. We slowly became friends and over the two years rode many miles together.

I am a handicapped rider, I only have use of one arm but he made it a point to tell me each time we rode that he saw no handicap. I progressed from riding 4-8 miles a week at 8mph for physical therapy to riding 40-50 miles a day at 20+ mph.

Todd pushed me to complete my first century, he took me out into interlockin to get some hills in and he never let me make any excuses; he made me the rider I am today.

Instead of letting me dwell on what I couldn't do or didn't think I could do he pushed me to do it. When my equipment started limiting me he improvised. I bought a new bike last year and he came over and got all of my components set up so I could use them safely and effectively.

I could go on for hours about Todd but what I appreciate and will miss the most is he could have pawned me off as some other kid out there riding around getting in the way; instead without being asked he made it a point to help me out how ever he could and never asked or would accept anything in return.

He truly was a great friend and I will miss very much getting to ride with him.

Mark Torres

I met Todd over 20 years ago before he moved towards Arlington, he used to live only a few blocks away on the SW side of Ft. Worth. We became good friends and went on water ski trips every weekend and then some. We both decided to try to self-teach ourselves how to barefoot waterski and of course Todd figured it out real fast. He soon had all of the equipment and started barefooting with some of the top skiers on the Brazos back in the '90s. He was always a great athletic inspiration and teacher. My wife forever remembers him because he came to the door one Saturday morning before going to ski and he told her that Princess Diana had been killed and she thought he was joking since he always was playing practical jokes on her, she immediately flipped on the TV and it was no joke, she still talks about that from time to time.

Once Todd moved over by RLP and I decided I was getting too old to barefoot waterski, we had lost touch and I will forever regret that. We will forever miss his funny laugh and his zainy character impersonations. I'm sure he is making one of our other close friends we were mutual friends with, who passed away 4 years ago laugh like mad up in haven now.

Rob and Tammy Downey

My favorite memories of Todd are him helping limp me in when I was having tough times on a ride. On one 300K brevet, Todd had somehow gotten off to a late start. He came blasting up trying to get to the main group and ran across me way before he got there. I had been off the brevet circuit for a year or so, so was both taking it easy and struggling at the same time. Instead of blasting past to get to the front, Todd hung with me the rest of the day.. he was just idling, of course, but it sure made my ride to have him as company. One other time, I think it was the last Austin to Ft Worth ride, we were riding all day into howling headwinds, and Todd hung with me when he could have gone in a lot faster. And of course, there was his mascot Sparky...

In a final sad irony, the last conversation we had was in the Peaster parking lot that morning. Todd asked me about the Lockheed person who had been killed the previous Saturday and expressed his condolences on that. He then gave me a typical Todd lecture on bike safety and off we all went. Minutes later he was gone, too. Rest in peace good friend, I pray we'll see you on the other side.

Steve Gray

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