Cycling enthusiast hit by car

Just after 6 a.m. Thursday, Paul Ratliff strapped on his helmet, donned a yellow reflective jacket and hopped on his bike to head to work. He told his wife he loved her and that he'd see her later.

As he left his Skyway home, he took the same route to Tukwila that he had for decades, pedaling downhill on Renton Avenue South. But coming north uphill, in the opposite lane, was a 79-year-old man in a 1997 Lincoln Towncar.

It was dark. The man made a left turn near South 130th Street. And in that instant, authorities say, he collided with the bike.

Ratliff, 56, died at the scene, a mile from his house.

The King County Sheriff's Office is investigating and has not made any arrests. Sgt. John Urquhart said Ratliff had the right of way, but stressed that the death was a tragic accident.

Ratliff's family is struggling to cope with the news that the doting husband and father of two is gone.

He had commuted for years on his bike, they said. Ice was the only thing that kept him from riding. He had lights on his bike and made sure to make himself visible to drivers, said his wife, Katie.

"I always worried that this would happen," she said. "And yet, I couldn't say no because he loved (biking) so much."

Ratliff grew up in Harlingen, Texas, near South Padre Island. He was the son of an Air Forceman and spent his younger years living in various places around the country and overseas, including Morocco and Turkey, his wife said.

The couple, who was married for 32 years, met at her cousin's wedding in the early 1970s, where Ratliff served as best man. And the first thing she noticed about him was "his great smile," his wife said.

"He was funny, charming and everything you looked for in a person," she said.

The couple have two daughters in their 20s, and when the girls were younger, the family would often go for bike rides, his wife said.

Paul Ratliff worked for NC Power Systems, where he was supervisor of the engine-prep shop. Workers there refurbished locomotives for Sound Transit, his wife said.

He had been with the company since 1979. And for most of his career, he rode his bike to work.

His chosen method of transportation sometimes rankled impatient drivers, said his daughter, Claire Ratliff, 22.

She remembered once when a car full of young kids threw water bottles at him. There was also another time when a couple of youths in a truck tried to push him over, she said.

But it never stopped him from getting back on the bike.

"That was his car," his wife said.

She said she feels nothing but sorrow for the man who hit her husband.

"It just takes that split moment of inattention," she said. "It doesn't matter if you're 19 or 79. It could have happened to any of us."

Sonia Krishnan: 206-515-5546 or skrishnan@seattletimes.com