Bike racer lost to cancer to be honored at one-of-a-kind ride

Chris Krueger was a pretty normal kid when he left Sioux Falls for the University of Minnesota in the fall of 1988.

But something happened. Somewhere along the way, he fell in with a bad crowd.

Bike racers.

The racing bug hit Krueger hard. He joined teams. He traveled the country going to road races and criteriums. He hung out with the elites in the game.

The reality was he wasn’t ever going to be more than an enthusiastic amateur. Krueger knew that.

In the best of times, reality can’t temper passion.

Krueger went to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to test his abilities. He spent a summer racing in France. He kept meticulous logs of his racing. It’s what bike racers do.

Despite the physical reality. Despite the obligations of family and work and all of it. Despite the leukemia that took him off the bike, that stole this joyful space and eventually took his life.

Chris Krueger was a bike racer.

“He absolutely loved the sport of cycling,” said Krueger’s wife, Cathy. “It was a national holiday when the Tour de France was on.”

Krueger’s life in cycling will be on full display Saturday at Pasley Park. That’s the Share a Coke with Chris stop for the annual Pedal FARR bike ride. The FARR part stands for Falls Area River Ride. It’s the sixth year for the event.

The 25-mile trek follows the main loop of the Sioux Falls bike trail with stops at several breweries and watering holes along the way to raise money for local families fighting cancer.

The ride starts and ends at Remedy Brewing Co., 401 E. Eighth St.

The Share a Coke stop is the second stop of the day. There will be commemorative cans of cola with Krueger’s name, SDSU ice cream and a relay race on Razor scooters.

Cathy Krueger will be there with the extended family and memorabilia from his racing and riding.

Each year, the Pasley Park stop honors the life of somebody who has died from cancer. It’s a celebration of that person, their hopes, dreams and legacy.

They don’t have to be cycling enthusiasts like Krueger.

The common theme is families who want to preserve the memory of their loved ones, said Emily Connolly, organizer of Pedal FARR.

“The biggest thing I hear from people is that they don’t want them to be forgotten,” Connolly said.

The entry fee is $25, and you can get a T-shirt for $12. Preregistration is open until Friday evening at EventBrite.com, or you can sign up Saturday at Remedy. The event begins at 11:30 a.m. and is scheduled to end at 8:30 p.m.

There will be food trucks at the conclusion, and Sioux Falls band Sugar Daddy will perform.

Cathy and Chris met at O’Gorman. They were both in the class of 1988, but they never dated. It wasn’t until the summer before their senior year in college that they ran into each other and started talking.

They never stopped.

Cathy Krueger wanted to do something to mark the fifth anniversary of husband’s death July 26.  So when Connolly approached her about the Share a Coke with Chris stop, it made perfect sense.

But the timing wasn’t the only connection, she said.

They served SDSU ice cream at their wedding.

And the band? Sugar Daddy.

“There are so many things that are telling me he is loving what we are doing this weekend.”

Krueger was 46 when he died. He was 34 when first diagnosed in 2004.

He had a bone marrow transplant and was in and out of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he was part of clinical trial. He spent months in a wheelchair before a surgery to replace his hips.

There were good stretches in those 12 years, but the cancer was always in the background.

Krueger was never able to ride his bike again.

The couple’s daughter, Hadley, is 19 now and getting ready for her freshman year at college.

Where? The University of Minnesota, living just two blocks from her dad’s old place.

On Saturday, the whole family will be out, remembering Krueger, honoring him and what he loved.

“He was happier on a bike than anywhere in the world,” Cathy Krueger said. “It’s always been his passion. This Pedal FARR event is awesome. He would have absolutely enjoyed this ride.”