By John Wilcockson
Photo:
It was standing room only at The Lodge on the University of Colorado campus at Colorado Springs on Wednesday evening when Dr. Ed Burke — who died on November 7 –- was honored at a memorial service. An estimated 400 people attended the hour-long service, including a who’s who of American cycling.
The highlight was a eulogy by Burke’s long-time friend and coaching colleague Chris Carmichael, who related a conversation he had the day before in Chicago with Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong. “Lance gave me a yellow jersey,” Carmichael said, “and wrote a message on it.” The coach then unfolded the jersey and read the message, which ended with the words, “We have lost a great man.”
The other speakers at the service were Burke’s brother-in-law General Ronald Rand and CU Colorado Springs chancellor Pamela Shockley, The chancellor spoke about the respect Burke had on campus and the love shown him by his students in the biology department, where Burke taught exercise physiology. She also said that Burke received more media inquiries than any other college professor in this history of the campus.
General Rand expressed the loss felt by his family, particularly Burke’s wife of 14 years, Kathleen, who had expressed her love to her 53-year-old husband before he went for his usual group ride last Thursday morning. Burke died on the bike from a massive heart attack while climbing one of the hills in the Springs.
Besides many photos of the late professor and cycling training guru at the service, there was a poster of one of his recent books, “Serious Cycling,” which had a foreword by Carmichael and a photo of Armstrong on the cover. Burke wrote more than a dozen books, and he had just finished work on one that is to be published next April. He also wrote thousands of training and technical articles for magazines such as VeloNews, Inside Triathlon and Bicycling.
Among the guests who came to honor Burke were current racers like Mari Holden, former riders Norman Alvis, Scott Berryman, Connie Carpenter, Ron Kiefel and Nelson Vails, race promoters Michael Aisner and Len Pettyjohn, coaching colleagues Dean Golisch, René Wenzel and Dr. Andy Pruitt, fellow writers Fred Matheny, Patrick O’Grady and Ed Pavelka, and USA Cycling administrators Steve Johnson and Jim Hadleigh.
In his eulogy, Air Force General Rand said of his late brother-in-law, “A quiet and gentle man who loved nature, he possessed an uncanny sense of humor and an amazing ability to make you feel special.” Everyone at the Springs on Wednesday evening felt special and walked out into the cold starry night with warm feelings of a lost friend and colleague.