ROCKVILLE, Md. — If you saw John Fauerby out for a bike ride, chances are you’d also spot his wife, Lynne Rosenbusch, right behind him. That’s because the Montgomery County couple often tackled their long-distance bike rides on a tandem bicycle.
They were out for a ride in Calvert County on Saturday when a driver hit them from behind. Rosenbuch, 58, died on the scene; Fauerby, 64, died after being taken to a hospital.
The driver has been identified as 62-year-old Catherine Frances Lyon of Huntingtown, Maryland. She was arrested and charged with two counts of negligent homicide while under the influence, motor vehicle homicide, reckless driving, failure to control speed to avoid an collision and more. She was released on $200,000 bond.
Mary Gersema knew the couple. Like John and Lynne, Gersema and her husband take part in the long-distance cycling sport known as randonneuring, and like the Clarksburg couple, Mary and her husband often hit the road on a tandem bike. Gersema documents her rides on her blog “Chasing Mailboxes.”
Gersema says John and Lynne were friendly, and always in good spirits.
“They were really into doing their own thing on the bike, and happy being a couple riding the bike.”
Gersema says the deaths are hard to accept — as of Monday, it still hadn’t sunk in. That was evident as Gersema slipped into the present tense when she talked about her friends’ riding strategies.
“They choose their routes pretty wisely,” she says, adding that it was their habit to avoid roads with heavy traffic.
But road cycling can be a risky sport, even in areas where there’s only occasional traffic, and Gersema knows that. But she rejects the notion that cyclists should stay off the road entirely.
“It doesn’t make sense to me to say that a drunken driver mowing down your friends means roads weren’t made for cyclists. I don’t think roads were made for drunk drivers.”
The driver accused of hitting Fauerby and Rosenbusch reportedly had a blood alcohol content reading of 0.12. In Maryland, a BAC of .08 is considered driving under the influence.
A court hearing for Lyon in Calvert County has been set for Jan. 27.
