The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bike shop owner injured in crash with car
Littmann runs Attitude Sports in Pewaukee
By Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel
Oct. 1, 2010
Jeff Littmann, a local bike racer and the owner of Attitude Sports cycle shop in Pewaukee, was hit by a car and seriously injured Friday morning while he trained in Nashotah with triathlete Lauren Jensen.
Littmann, 56, was flown by Flight for Life helicopter to Froedtert Hospital. He suffered severe head injuries and was in critical condition.
Jensen, 42, was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. She was standing and talking to emergency personnel after the crash.
Both cyclists were riding eastbound on Wisconsin Ave., just west of Highway C, when they were hit by a car going the same direction. The driver of the car, a man from Nashotah, was not injured.
A sheriff’s official said it was “too early in the investigation to make a determination on any citations.”
Littmann, a popular member of the Chiropractic Partners/LAPT race team, has coached dozens of fellow athletes at the former Transition Cycle and the new Attitude Sports. Littmann and his wife, Kelly James, opened the shop in March of this year.
Dozens of his fellow cyclists were expected to gather there Friday night for what was to be the grand opening of the shop’s fitness center.
That training space continued the work that Littmann had started when he owned and operated Wisconsin Health & Fitness Centers in the Milwaukee area.
He has been regarded as an ambassador for cycling, particularly in the Lakes area, for close to 25 years, according to John Donovan, a sales manager at the store. He helped prepare other cyclists to race in national championships or local charity rides.
Five years ago, Littmann nearly died in a crash during a Wisconsin Cycling Association race in Muskego Park. According to published reports, he was in a coma for seven days after hitting a wooden sign while sprinting to the finish line.
He suffered a fractured sternum, a bruised heart, a ruptured spleen and multiple broken ribs but rehabilitated sufficiently to resume racing in 2006.
Jensen has been one of the most successful triathletes in the area for more than 20 years. Along with her husband, Todd, she operates the Tri Faster coaching service in New Berlin. She has been a repeat winner in the Trek Women Triathlon and finished sixth in the Ironman Wisconsin in early September.
“We’d just like everybody to pray for them and keep them in your thoughts,” Donovan said.
