Mass cycle tragedy: Mum loses fight for life

Mother-of-three Kay Wolfe died yesterday morning. Photo / Supplied

A Waikato cycling club is battling with the loss of another one of its members, just days after two others were killed when a motorist ploughed into them.

Kay Heather Wolfe, 45, of Gordonton, was one of 10 cyclists from the Morrinsville Wheelers Cycling Club riding along Morrinsville-Walton Road, about 32km northeast of Hamilton, when a 23-year-old woman crossed the centre line in her car and ploughed into them.

Mark Andrew Ferguson, 46, and Wilhelm Muller, 71, died at the scene.

A fourth cyclist suffered minor injuries while Mrs Wolfe, a mother of three, was taken to Waikato Hospital by ambulance.

She spent four days in the hospital's intensive care unit but died yesterday morning.

Mark May, captain of the Morrinsville Wheelers Cycling Club, said club members, who will today attend the funeral for Mr Ferguson at Waihou and Mr Muller's funeral tomorrow in Morrinsville, had been clinging to the hope that Mrs Wolfe would survive her injuries.

"We were just starting to have a bit of hope and were starting to smile a bit more and then we got the news this morning," said Mr May.

"It's been awful, we are just trying to cope the best we can but the emphasis has to be on the family ... it's the family that we are gutted for."

He said Mrs Wolfe was a competitive cyclist and had been a member of the 150-strong club for the past six years.

A popular figure with the club, Mrs Wolfe would often volunteer her time to help marshall race events.

"She was a great woman, very well-liked and she'd always be out there either riding or helping out whatever the weather."

A friend of the Wolfe family said they were too devastated to speak with the media but said in a statement issued through the Waikato District Health Board that she was a loved wife, mother, sister, aunty and friend to hundreds of people.

The statement thanked the doctors and nurses in Waikato Hospital's intensive care unit who looked after her.

Mr May admitted "not all cyclists are good guys" but said the group were following all the road rules and regulations during their weekend ride when they were hit.

He implored motorists to take things easy when seeing cyclists on the road.

"People in New Zealand need to change their attitudes and we need to see less rip, shit and bust out there," he said.

"I think education is the future. When I was a kid every kid rode to school, you'd be lucky to see half a dozen kids biking to school these days, you can't blame the parents."

Acting Waikato road policing manager, Senior Sergeant Jeff Penno, said police were still investigating whether charges would be laid against the driver involved in the accident, Kristy King.