Jakub Solovský, a 34-year-old research scientist at the Reservoir Engineering Research Institute on Lytton Avenue, was killed Saturday, July 11, when a speeding Porsche crossed into his lane on Highway 35 in Woodside and struck him head-on.

Solovský was riding southbound on the road, also known as Skyline Boulevard, just before 11:30 a.m. when the 28-year-old driver, traveling northbound at a high rate of speed, failed to negotiate a curve, according to California Highway Patrol officials. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver was uninjured; drugs and alcohol did not appear to be factors, CHP said. The crash remains under investigation.

Solovský lived in East Palo Alto and was a visiting postdoctoral researcher from the Czech Republic. His most recent published paper, co-authored with RERI director Abbas Firoozabadi, appeared in the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer in 2026, focused on heat extraction from fractured rock in enhanced geothermal systems.

He was also a member of the Western Wheelers, the Palo Alto-based recreational cycling club, where friends say he stood out for putting the group ahead of his own fitness goals.

"That was Jakub — he did not have a fancy bike or gear, but he loved riding and challenging himself and others," fellow Western Wheeler Larry Abrahams told the Redwood City Pulse in a remembrance published July 28. Abrahams called Solovský a "kind, considerate, yet challenging partner and leader" and recalled that after difficult climbs, Solovský would always double back down the hill to make sure every rider made it up safely.

Club member Shawnery Hardin called him the "king of social repeats" for that habit, according to the Pulse. Irene Hu, another Western Wheeler, told the Pulse that while many riders at Solovský's level get caught up in their numbers, he prioritized people, cheerfully joining her on slow rides while she recovered from an injury.

His younger sister, Kateřina Škardová, said the tributes from his cycling friends matched the brother she knew. Solovský brought the same all-in approach to ultramarathons, disc golf, and his scientific work, she said.

The crash occurred less than a year after another cyclist was killed at the intersection of Highway 35 and Highway 84, a junction known as Four Corners near Alice's Restaurant, according to the Almanac News. That rider was struck by a pickup truck on Friday, August 29, 2025, and died the next day at Stanford Medical Center. A white ghost bike and signs urging drivers to slow down now mark the site.

Caltrans programmed a $6.38 million safety project for the stretch of Highway 35 from the Santa Clara County line to Highway 84, including centerline rumble strips, curve signs, optical speed bars, and high-visibility striping, according to project records. Construction was scheduled to begin in February 2022, but whether those improvements were completed before the July 11 crash has not been confirmed.