While riding this weekend I saw good riding, lots of it. And I saw bad. Four riders tooling along side by side, oblivious to traffic or anything else. A group of riders drafting us, and then slowing down when passing us. They were the most dangerous riders we saw, and they really rode like idiots.
And then the article in this morning's paper about a cyclist who had to dodge a car door, opened by an oblivious woman. He had to swerve and was killed when he was hit by a bus. I'm sickened and saddened.
Just last night was the ride of silence. Cyclists all over the country riding for cyclists who were killed or injured. The number of ghost bikes is climbing, and through no fault of safe responsible riders. It seems those are the ones who are killed or seriously injured. Not the hot dogs riding on public streets like they are part of the Tour de France pelaton.
Jerry and I have both crashed bad enough to end up in the hospital. His was due to an underinflated tire. I'm not sure why I crashed because I have no memory of the crash. I woke up in the hospital seeing double. It could have been a car door. I don't know.
I ride with a very responsible law-abiding group of cyclists. AIDS Lifecycle demands that we obey traffic laws and ride responsibly, and I for one am thankful for those rules. But like the young man who was killed yesterday, following those rules is not always a guarantee of safety. I mourn for him and my only hope is that it makes drivers who read about him double check that rear view mirror and watch out for those of us on bikes. There are more of us than ever.
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