Cyclist on charity trek killed

DOVER — James Dobson, a man known throughout Dover and the Seacoast area, was killed Tuesday after being struck by a car on a Mississippi highway while pedaling across the country to raise money to help children with cancer.

The news devastated community members who remember a charismatic man who strived to spread “positives vibes” to the world. Dobson had left Dover on his recumbent tricycle on Oct. 1 with a destination of San Diego. His goal was riding 60 miles a day to raise money for the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock. Dobson called it the Positives Vibes Tour.

According to Sgt. Travis Luck of the Mississippi Highway Patrol, James Dobson, 32, of Lebanon, Maine, was riding west on Highway 98 about 15 miles west of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, when he was struck from behind by a Dodge Charger just before 1 p.m. Central time. Luck said Dobson was pronounced dead at the scene. The Hattiesburg American reported the area of the accident had low visibility because of inclement weather and that Dobson may have been obscured by a small hill in that section of road.

Luck said that based on the preliminary investigation, Dobson was riding on the right side of the four-lane highway with a flag and a light that was flashing when the Charger approached and could not avoid hitting Dobson due to the traffic in the area. No charges have been filed, but all aspects of the crash remain under investigation, he said. According to the Street View on Google Maps, there is no shoulder area where the crashed occurred. Luck said there is no law against riding a bicycle on the highway but noted it is a very busy road.

“It's pretty unreal,” said Dobson’s friend James Richesin. “He was always trying to put a smile on people’s faces."

Richesin said his friends wanted to help Dobson complete his goal of raising $10,000 to CHaD. On Wednesday, after news of Dobson's death, his GoFundMe page quickly received thousands of dollars of donations for CHaD and surpassed the $10,000 goal.

Dr. Keith Loud, the physician in chief at CHaD said in a statement, “We here at CHaD are shocked and saddened by the tragic loss of James Dobson. I did not have the pleasure of meeting James, but as an avid cyclist myself, I am moved by not only the dedication but the courage it took to ride across the country in an effort to give back. A self-proclaimed ‘small town regular guy,’ James was a shining star, and we are honored to have had him shine his light in our direction. We express our deepest condolences to his friends and family.” 

Donations to CHaD in Dobson’s honor can be made at gofundme.com/kidscancersucks.

Dobson shared his story with Foster's Daily Democrat late this summer before beginning his journey, which he chronicled on his YouTube channel. He was previously featured in Foster's for making mittens for homeless people. Dobson has also been featured in Foster’s and the Portsmouth Herald for the delivery service Takeout Guys, a company he co-founded with Elizabeth Calabrese in 2012. Dobson had since left the company.

The Herald article noted that Dobson was a professional football player in Europe with the Polish American Football League. He also co-owned Next Level Sports, LLC. that ran football training camps for high school and college athletes.

The news of Dobson's death hit Curtis Thistle hard. Thistle, who works at The Gyro Spot in Dover and helps out local organizations, said Dobson knew everyone in the community because he made a point of striking up conversations with everyone in the city. “He just wanted to be your friend.”

Thistle said The Gyro Spot plans to host a Paint Nite fundraiser in the near future to honor Dobson as well as raise money for CHaD.

“Everything he did was to help people. He was the nicest guy in the world,” Thistle said.

Miranda Huther who was close with Dobson said his kindness knew no bounds. He could be a jokester, but always willing to help someone in need. "He was a great person and a lot of people can learn from him," she said.

Dover Police Department Mounted Patrol officers Joe Caproni and Michelle Murch would run into Dobson at least once a week downtown on patrol. They remembered him as a colorful character who was always good for a laugh. They called him Little Jimmy, as Dobson operated a T-Shirt making business called Little Jimmy's T-Shirts. “He was a dreamer and always looking for the good in people,” Caproni said. “He was larger than life.”

Dobson was often using his phone as a video camera, documenting his life in video blogs he posted on YouTube and other social media sites. In the videos, even doing the most mundane tasks, Dobson always brought a high-level of excitement and often including people he met along the way. He took his first Positive Vibes Tour last year, driving his colorful second generation Honda Odyssey across country documenting it by video along the way.

Dobson was also known for his antics that often would show up in his videos, such as his parody news organization called NH2 News. In February this year, he posted a video of himself in front of the New Hampshire Statehouse holding a TV-looking microphone with his NH2 News emblem on it. "We tried to get a questioning with the governor. I don't know his (expletive) name, but I know why he's not here, and that's because it is Saturday, and Saturday is for the boys." He then throws the mic, pulls out a Goose Island IPA and shotguns the beer with the statehouse behind him. There are stories of him getting kicked out of a Dover bar for wearing a thong similar as the one Sacha Baron Cohen wore in the movie "Borat."

His friend Jeff Lancaster posted on Facebook in a tribute to Dobson said Dobson told him that he figured out he could change people's day just with a simple smile and a hello, no matter how bad a day a person was having. "It’s ultimately about making some else's day better that gets me up every day," Lancaster said Dobson told him.

Dobson in his final video blog remained positive and encouraged others to do as well. "Stay happy, stay humble and above all, make someone happy," he said, using one of his common refrains.