Miami bicyclist falls to death trying to beat drawbridge

MIAMI — A bicyclist who ignored warning signs and tried to beat a Miami drawbridge slid to his death down the rising concrete slab, police said.

Fred Medina, 58, was on his morning bike ride from Aventura to Key Biscayne when he tried to make it past the drawbridge over the Miami River around 6 a.m. Wednesday, according to Miami police spokeswoman Kenia Fallat. “He tried to overtake the opening,” Fallat told the Miami Herald.

“He slid down the bridge and fell in between the section of the bridge that moves and the fixed part of the roadway,” said Medina’s friend, Stephen Tannenbaum, who spoke with WSVN. Medina had been biking with another friend, who crossed the bridge ahead of him, he said.

Medina was an entertainment and technology executive who mostly worked in Latin American media. He was a principal of Redline Advisors, a media marketing consulting firm, and before that he was managing director for Latin America for BBC. He also previously held executive roles at Ole Communications, A+E Networks Latin America, and HBO Latin America, according to his LinkedIn profile.

”Fred had an impressive track record in the world of television and media,” Enrique R. Martinez, chairman of the Latin American Council for Media Advertising, said in a statement.

Medina often woke up at 4:45 a.m. to ride his bike, the Herald reported, and would post his rides on social media. Last year, he logged 22,008 miles, according to his Strava fitness tracker app.

“We’d give each other kudos,” said T.C. Schultz, an executive vice president at Sony Pictures Entertainment, who also rides. “He’s really great at sharing his ride with beautiful scenes of Miami. It’s so tragic … he started the day doing what he loved.”

The Downtown Development Authority has been working with the Florida Department of Transportation to install gates that would block people from going under the arms, Miami Commissioner Ken Russell said.

“To me, this is about cycling safety and making sure the city, county and state have the right infrastructure to make cycling safe for everyone in the city,” he said.