I have been debating as to whether or not to replay to this thread as I have mixed feelings about it. Clearly any death is sad, but quoting statistics is utterly pointless and I don't really think that this forum is better for this statistic being posted. I simply don't see the point in the initial post. No offence meant to the OP, but just the way I feel.
Any number on it's own can look high, what we don't have with this figure is any context and without context I think that it is a useless figure and a pointless thread. We could now go and quote how many people have died from or doing different things, but again that would be pointless without knowing more context. But that I mean how likely are you to die doing it. How many people do it etc.
If there figures of miles per death, then it might give us a bit more context / likelihood of dying doing something. If as has been suggested above the number of cyclists has dramatically risen and deaths remained stable, then this is a good news story. Obviously not for those making up the figures though.
As Eddie says above we are all going to die, it's just a matter of when and how. I could see worse ways to go than doing something that you love.
Finally, I don't think this type of thread is really going to encourage people to take up cycling either.