Truck strikes, injures 1 of 2 brothers cycling on Route 66

Vancouver’s Mike Roskam was struck by a pickup Sunday morning during a cross-country bicycle ride on Route 66 to raise money for Open House Ministries.

Roskam and his brother, Mark Roskam, Open House’s chaplain, were cycling south out of Clinton, Okla., having camped the night before in Weatherford, Okla. Mike Roskam was struck by a pickup and thrown over the top of the vehicle, said Dina Hovde, communications manager for the faith-based nonprofit. He was taken by ambulance to AllianceHealth Clinton and later discharged from the hospital.

Mike Roskam has cuts on his face, road rash and a concussion.

“It was a violent collision, and Mike was blindsided,” Mark Roskam told Open House. “He’s sleeping all the time — a lot of pain, a lot of festering wounds, and his head wound, he’s not thinking very fast or straight — but we’re all of one heart that we need to come home.”

Mark Roskam said the pickup missed him by two inches.

The brothers and their crew — their brother Doug Roskam, Mike Roskam’s wife, Sherrill Roskam, and Mark Roskam’s wife, Gini Roskam — decided to begin driving home today in their RV. Sherrill Roskam is a retired nurse and is “in her element” helping nurse her husband back to health, Hovde said.

“We’re relieved the men are coming home. We adore them. We’re so grateful this accident didn’t have a worse outcome,” Hovde said in an email.

The pair of brothers were about 1,000 miles into what was supposed to be a 2,448-mile trip from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif., via Route 66. They began their journey Sept. 4. During the trek, called Route 66: Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness, Sherrill and Gini Roskam led the way in a 28-foot Winnebago. The plan was for Mike and Mark Roskam to log about 80 miles a day, six days a week. Both are experienced road cyclists.

The goal was to raise $66,000 for Open House Ministries, which operates a Christ-centered family shelter in downtown Vancouver. The trip raised $27,000. Anyone who made by-the-mile pledges will be offered a refund for the miles the pair didn’t complete, Hovde said.

“The big story is the goodness of God. We have our brother,” Mark Roskam said. “Our God is at work. And that’s the Open House story, in a nutshell.”