LA PORTE CITY – A Cedar Falls resident who formerly lived in Dysart, lost his life last week Wednesday, August 30 while riding a bicycle south of La Porte City on Highway 218.

According to an Iowa State Patrol crash report, John Rice, 83, was riding southbound on 218 just before 2:30 p.m. when a car driven by DeWayne Arends of Oxford Junction slammed into him near the intersection with 51st Street. Rice was pronounced dead at the scene.

The intersection is located about a mile and a half south of La Porte City in Benton County. Arends was operating a 2015 Nissan Altima.

Both the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and the La Porte City Fire and EMS assisted in the response.

The crash remains under investigation.

Although Rice was a resident of Cedar Falls, he was previously a resident of Dysart where he was known to be an avid bicyclist. He was also the owner of Custom Metal Fabricators, Inc. which was located just north of town on Hwy 21.

According to the Iowa Bicycle Association, as of August 12, three bicycle fatalities have been recorded in Iowa so far this year including Gregory Hardy, 64, of Des Moines who was struck and killed on May 31 near Bondurant; De’Wayne Lee Cole, 40, who was struck by a pickup truck in Des Moines on July 5; and a six-year-old boy was hit by a car in Guthrie Center, eventually succumbing to his injuries, on August 12.

To learn more from the Iowa Bicycle Association on how to safely pass bicyclists, click here.