RICHARDTON, N.D. (AP) - Friends of a 33-year-old man who was killed by a lightning strike while working on a biking trail remember him for his dedication to the trails of western North Dakota.
Kyle Brierley, of Dickinson, was found near his pickup truck Sunday. Friends say Brierley was working as a volunteer to spruce up the trails at the Schnell Recreation Area near Richardton when storms rolled through.
Brierley was apparently loading his equipment into his pickup when he was killed, said Lt. Eldon Mehrer of the Stark County Sheriff’s Office. First responders found Brierley’s body behind his truck, and a medical examiner confirmed he had died from a lightning strike, The Bismarck Tribune reported.
“It’s one of those so unfortunate, rare, freak occurrences,” Mehrer said.
An avid mountain biker, Brierley went racing the Maah Daah Hey Trail with his children on Saturday and was gearing up for a prestigious mountain bike event next weekend in Colorado.
Brierley had recently received a coveted spot in the lottery for the upcoming Leadville 100, a high-altitude mountain bike race through the Colorado Rockies.
“It just says so much about what kind of a guy he was that, so close to his Leadville 100 race, he would take time to go out and do trail work with the small amount of spare time he had, being a father and working full time,” said Nick Ybarra, who, along with his wife, Lindsey, runs a series of mountain bike and trail running events in the North Dakota Badlands.
Brierley and his family moved to North Dakota from Utah several years ago. He trained as an electrician and worked as an automation technician in the western North Dakota oil fields, according to his obituary.
The Ybarras said Brierley started mountain biking to get back in shape. The three met when Brierley participated in the Maah Daah Hey 100 race in 2016. He finished in the Top 10.
“I remember after I called him up, he whispered to me, ’Hey, this is my first mountain bike race ever,’” Nick Ybarra said.
Brierley is survived by his wife, Bev, and two children, ages 7 and 11. The Ybarras have started a GoFundMe page to help the family with expenses. As of Wednesday afternoon, the fundraiser had raised more than $33,000 of its $50,000 goal.
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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com
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