Hit-and-run bike victim worked at private club for 45 years By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune September 11, 2008 The bicyclist who was struck and killed before dawn this morning by a hit-and-run driver on a road near Lake Calhoun was a 45-year employee of the Minikahda Club who was on his way to work, the club's general manager said. Jimmy Nisser was just moments away from arriving at the club from his nearby St. Louis Park home, when a vehicle struck him shortly after 4:15 a.m. on Excelsior Boulevard near W. 32nd Street, said club manager Jim Jennings. Nisser, who was in his mid-60s, would ride to work during the warmer months and otherwise walked in the winter, said Jennings. Nisser did not have a driver's license. Nisser, one of the club's most senior employees, did food preparation his entire time at the club and "was one of the family here," said Jennings. "It's unbelievable." Jennings said that "it's sick for somebody to just drive away. ... Who knows what [the driver] is thinking. Not much character, that's for sure." Nisser always wore a helmet and was a safe bicyclist, said Jennings, who added that he knew of no incidents Nisser ever had making the predawn ride to work. He lived with his mother in the 3700 block of Kipling Avenue until she died about 12 years ago, Jennings said. Police confirmed that Nisser was wearing a helmet when he was struck by a tan vehicle, which police suspect has right-front damage. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Sgt. Bruce Folkens at 612-673-3410 or Sgt. Chris Karakostas at 612-673-3400. Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482 © 2008 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.