Tom Gunderson was training for an upcoming bike race — a 50-mile, gravel-road race called the Filthy 50 in Lanesboro, Minn. — when he was struck by a minivan on Washington County Road 96 in Stillwater Township on Sept. 27.
Gunderson, 65, of Stillwater, died Oct. 9 at Regions Hospital in St. Paul from injuries sustained in the crash.
The crash, which occurred around 8:45 a.m., happened when Gunderson, biking west on 96, turned south at the intersection of Neal Avenue. He was struck by a woman who also was driving west on County Road 96, said Cmdr. Kyle Schenck of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
The driver remained at the scene of the crash, Schenck said. “At this point in the investigation, it appears she was not at fault,” Schenck said. “No arrests have been made or are expected to be made.”
Gunderson had multiple bikes and rode five days a week, sometimes logging 200 or more miles a week, said Levon Kalemkiarian, a longtime friend and Gunderson’s trainer and coach.
“He was very fit, but it was also just his consistency over time,” said Kalemkiarian, the owner of Premier Training Systems in Stillwater. “That’s what got him to where he was. It wasn’t one or two years. It was how consistent he was over the course of a decade — just being a student of his sport, taking care of himself on the bike and off the bike, and then also enjoying life between all the training, too.”
Volunteer coach
Gunderson was a volunteer coach with the Stillwater Mountain Bike Team, a competitive co-ed riding program for students in sixth to 12th grades in the Stillwater district. Gunderson was assigned to the fastest group of student riders because he was the fastest coach, said Todd Lunneborg, the team’s director and head coach.
“The hard part of my job is finding a coach that kids can’t keep up with, and Tom was a monster rider,” Lunneborg said. “He was fast and dedicated and easygoing, and he was a really great asset. I didn’t ride with Tom. He was too fast for me. His whole life was on that bike.”
Before arriving at Stillwater Area High School to meet student riders for a workout, Gunderson would log a 15- to 20-mile ride “as a warmup,” he said,
Gunderson was an organ donor, and “we joke that whoever got his heart woke up wanting to do 60 miles,” Lunneborg said.
“Tom’s mantra was ‘I’ll do it until I can’t,’” his obituary states. “Elite bike racer, All-American swimmer, ski racer, coach, talented water skier, wealth management adviser, horse barrel racer, and volunteer – he did it all at a very high level. Yet he always kept a healthy perspective and humbleness about his impressive accomplishments.”
Gunderson grew up in West St. Paul, and graduated from Henry Sibley High School. At St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., Gunderson studied economics, played varsity soccer and was captain of the swim team. He received NCAA All-American honors in swimming while at St. Olaf. He later got a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
“Tom sought challenge and was a doer, not an observer,” according to his obituary. “He excelled at generously giving time to others, knowing that kind thoughts require kind action. Volunteering as a mountain bike coach at Stillwater High School was one of his joys as he helped numerous bikers develop their confidence, just as he had.”
Gunderson was treasurer of the Chilkoot Velo Cycling Club in Stillwater and had been a member since 2015. “For seven years, I competed as a triathlete, drawing on my collegiate NCAA All-American swimming background,” Gunderson wrote in his bio on the club’s website. “After spending 20 years breeding, raising, and training barrel racing horses, I returned to cycling in 2014. I enjoy group rides and races on my road, mountain, and gravel bikes, and I also help coach the Stillwater High School mountain bike team. You’ll occasionally spot me adding some excitement to the Thursday evening group rides, especially on the way back to the barn.”
Gunderson was president and founder of Nason HIll Wealth Management in Stillwater. He previously worked for Inflection Capital Management, Foundry Partners, Oxford Financial Group and Lowry Hill/Abbot Downing, among others. He spent 19 years at Advantus Capital Management, the investment division of Securian in St. Paul.
‘Discipline and principle’
The night before the crash, Gunderson and his wife, Lynn Peterson Gunderson, sat on their front porch “to enjoy the beautiful fall evening,” Lynn Peterson Gunderson wrote in a CaringBridge post.
Gunderson was reading “Poems & Prayers” by actor Matthew McConaughey and asked to read a passage out loud that “really resonated” with him, she wrote. “There’s a difference between a good man and a nice guy,” he read. “A good man stands for certain ideals. And when those beliefs are contested, a good man is not a nice guy.”
“Tom was a man of great discipline and principle,” Lynn Peterson Gunderson wrote. “Tom left us two of the greatest gifts a human could ever give: organ donation and hearts full of love. … We are at peace knowing Tom has completed this journey on earth. He has moved onto the bright light of eternity, and we look forward to meeting him there.”
Two days after Gunderson died, Kalemkiarian rode the Filthy 50 in Lanesboro in his friend’s honor, racing with Gunderson’s number in addition to his own.
“He gave Tom one final ride, one final finish time, and one final Top-50 finisher 50-cent-piece medal to give to Tom’s family,” Lunneborg said.
Kalemkiarian said Monday that he stopped mid-race on Oct. 11 to help a friend who had crashed, but when another rider came along to help, both riders encouraged him to get back on his bike and finish the race in order to get Gunderson his Top 50 finish and a 50-cent-piece medal for Gunderson’s family.
“It was one of the last races that Tom had planned to ride this year,” he said. “It just seemed fitting to take the number and carry it for the duration of the race for him, so he could have one last finishing time.”
Gunderson is survived by his wife and his son, Austin Peterson.
A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Crescent Tide Cremation Services is handling arrangements.
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