“Momentum Sports Group holds our athletes to the highest standards of ethical conduct and accountability – both on and off the road. Following an internal investigation, we accepted Mr. Summerhill’s resignation from the team, effective immediately. The personal actions of one individual do not represent the values of our dedicated athletes, sponsors or fans, and we offer our sincerest apologies to anyone who may have been impacted.” And with that, cyclist Danny Summerhill was summarily shown the door by Team UnitedHealthcare. What had he done to bring about the “resignation”?
It seems Summerhill was out for a ride back in February and needed to let off a little steam. He was…
seen firing a handgun into a hillside as he rode along South Deer Creek Road, in the rural area south-west of Denver… According to the police report, he was followed by resident Joe Porter after his wife Shawn heard shots while she was fetching her mail, and saw the cyclist firing his gun into a hillside “between two driveways … with a freestanding garage and a vehicle parked in front of it”.
When he was tracked down by a local cop, he . . .
“…initially denied shooting, but then admitted that he had a bad day and need to vent, so he decided to shoot,” the report read. “He confirmed that he had been riding his bicycle in Deer Creek Canyon on a five-hour training ride and had needed to vent before he got back to his vehicle.”
Because what better way to relieve stress than by firing indiscriminately over a residential area? Who hasn’t done that on occasion? (Answer: all responsible gun owners).
He’ll probably be experiencing some more tough days ahead. He “was arraigned in Jefferson County, Colorado on Tuesday on charges of disorderly conduct, discharging a weapon in a public place and reckless endangerment.” Let’s hope he’s found less dangerous outlets for his stress since February.
We imagine that mounting a legal defense is going to significantly impinge on his training time (not to mention his bank balance) in the days and weeks ahead. And there’s a good chance he’ll lose his gun rights from now until the end of time. So for conspicuous stupidity and generally reckless behavior that reflects poorly on all gun owners, Danny Summerhill is our Irresponsible Gun Owner of the Day.
Stuck on stupid.
Dang “venting” by shooting in public…ever heard of masturbation bike boy? Or are you numb from 5hour rides?!? 🙂
Haven’t you heard of “Biker’s Willy”?
And it was stupid to shoot while on the bike. Hasn’t he heard of gun ranges?
Ever heard of the 5.5mm Velo Dog cartridge? It was designed to shoot from a bicycle…at pesky dogs.
Move along. Nothing to see here.
I can’t understand why a cyclist would shoot from a bike to relieve stress. That’s what riding is for.
Squeeze a tennis ball next time.
Well, that was dumb. Not sure he should have his career dumped because of it, though.
1) He’s 28, and going nowhere. The team was glad to dump him, he’s dead weight.
2) The road where he was riding is used by literally every bicycle racer and serious rider for a hundred miles. He gave the locals another reason to hate the bikies. He shat where he eats, in other words.
Yeah. His career is over. He’s young enough to start over.
Truth be told there’s still plenty of reason to dislike most cyclists in Colorado.
I used to think the term “pedal fag” was just mean until I realized how much of a jerk your average front range road cyclist is. Then I realized that whether an individual warranted the term or not, collectively the group earned the title through sheer arrogance, tomfuckery and elitism.
“…whether an individual warranted the term or not, collectively the group earned the title through sheer arrogance, tomfuckery and elitism.”
As a cyclist I concur. Perhaps the only group more obnoxious than true-believer crossfitters is cyclists.
Nothing ruins a fun activity quite like other people.
Did he hit the hill?
The song “Bubba shot the jukebox” comes to mind.
He claimed he didn’t know the area was residential. I guess that’s believable. He COULD be the only cyclist in Colorado who has never ridden Deer Creek Canyon.
Jeffco… Oh man is he fucked.
I can surely testify to the therapeutic value of sending lead downrange and ringing steel or turning clay targets to powder after a stressful day of dealing with morons.
But… yeah, there are safe and smart ways to do that, and there’s what this guy did.
I don’t think I understand. Here, if one stops along the road and begins fireing into the woods witnesses come in two classes; those who aren’t armed and speed on by, and those who are, who will join you, gun in hand, to see what you’re shooting at, and if it needs a few more rounds.
The old real estate axiom comes to mind: Location Location Location.
In MY neighborhood, if you ride along the road and fire rounds into someone’s FRONT YARD, there are also 2 types of people: Those that will get in their car and track your dumb ass down for the Sheriff, and those that will shoot back.
Asshole was not shooting “in the woods,” he was in a residential area.
That was my old neighborhood and I shoot back. It’s the only time I have actually heard bullet pass by me before heard the shot and the little punks who fired the round were shooting at my dog. They didn’t see me. I had my 22WMR in hand as I had been waiting for a groundhog that had taken up next to one of my barns. I fired back and hit where I was aiming, the rear quarter panel of the truck they were in. When the sheriff showed up and asked why I shot at the truck I told him and that was it. The truck belonged to the mayor of a small town about 20 miles away and his boy said he and some friends were just driving down the road and some redneck farmer just shot at them for no reason. They didn’t do nuten. The sheriff was a hunting buddy of mine and knew damn well the little angels had done something, he figured they were stealing something from the barn though. Never considered they were taking pot shots at my dog. I didn’t press charges, figured the talk with Daddy when the sheriff got back and the body work was enough.
“he had been riding his bicycle . . . on a five-hour training ride and had needed to vent before he got back to his vehicle.”
I don’t blame him for not wanting to steam up his vehicle, but next time he might want to try Gas-X.
Cyclists in Colorado have gotten completely out of control. They seem to think that they own the road and that their body and bicycle can ignore the law of the road and of physics. One example, going up Muddy Pass in my 3/4 ton truck and pulling a 6000 pound trailer I was confronted with three cyclists riding abreast. I was going about 40 miles an hour on a curve and coming the other way was a fully loaded log truck. If the trucker had not been alert to the situation and gotten his tires right to the edge of that narrow road I would not have barely squeaked by the closest biker. I did have the presence of mind while passing them to give them a honk which was also magnified by the truckers air horn. When I looked in the rear view mirror two were flipping me off, one was flipping off the trucker and they were still hogging up a good section of US 40. I for one am sick and tired of bikers ignoring the rules of the road and causing others to get into wrecks or to feel terrible for killing someone even if it was not their fault. This guy sounds like one of their aggressive a-hole type. I hope they throw him in the slammer and lock him up for a long time.
This is proof that we should have heavier regulations on bikes. See what happens when someone has unfettered access to a bicycle and poor control over his emotions? We need mandatory bike-ground checks, waiting periods, and limits on the number of speeds on any bicycle.
free Danny Summerhill
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