Heart bypass man dies after US bike trip

A man who cycled across the US after heart bypass surgery gave him a second chance at life has died of a heart attack, one day after completing the 2,400-mile trip.

Broc Bebout, a 57-year-old retired engineer, died on Thursday on the drive back to his home in Anderson, Indiana, one day after completing the ride from Carlsbad, California, to Brunswick, Georgia.

His wife, Patricia Brinkman, said cycling became Bebout’s ticket to nearly 20 years of good health after quadruple-bypass surgery at age 39. He also learned to eat right and take care of himself, she said.

In an e-mail to her on Wednesday before a celebratory steak dinner, Bebout described what the trip had meant to him: “An incredible experience with incredible people.”

“It was a trip of a lifetime,” she said. “We all have a list of things we like to say we did. That was right up there at the top.”