Man opens annual bicycling event a year after a bike accident almost killed him

Cyclists at the Columbia Radtour Bicycling Event rode dozens of miles through metro-east backroads on Saturday to raise money for local schools.

The annual event, started by the program Helmets First, has been renamed the “Mike Dailey Kiwanis Radtour” in honor of Mike Dailey, of Columbia, who was in a serious bicycling accident last year.

Dailey had a fractured skull, bleeding and swelling in the brain and lung damage and was in a coma for months at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, according to Fox2Now.

On Saturday, he stood at the beginning of the bike race at Schnuck’s, greeting bicyclists riding in the event, which raises money for local schools through the Kiwanis Education Enrichment Program.

“This is a bike ride I’ve done for the last four years, it’s to pay for kids that go to school here. It’s not about me,” Dailey said. “We want the kids in school to be able to do things because that’s what it’s about.”

Dr. Joseph Cangas, also known as ‘The Helmet Doctor,’ started the Helmets First program when he noticed that many of the children he treated as a pediatrician did not wear helmets. Since then, Helmets First has distributed more than 25,000 helmets to St Louis area children and educates “both children and parents on the importance of wearing a bicycle helmet,” according to the site.

The ride included seven, 25, 40 and 60 mile scenic routes and started in Columbia, Illinois.

This story was originally published October 9, 2017 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Man opens annual bicycling event a year after a bike accident almost killed him."