sad sad sad

[Beth-Ro]

Yet another cycling tragedy reminds me...this cycling thing is dangerous. Let's be careful out there.

http://www.greenvillenews.com/apps/p...510260320/1004

[jobob]

Life in general is dangerous. Accidents happen.

The best thing a cyclist can do for herself is to take a road cycling skills course.

The League of American Bicyclists (LAB) offer such courses. So do local bike clubs.

Yes, of course we need to be careful, and even with all the training in the world, accidents can and do still happen.

But being trained in how to properly ride in traffic, and being familiar with steps you can take to avoid being another statistic, is a step in the right direction.

- jo "feeling preachy this morning" bob

[Trek420]

what jobob sez.

sitting here working on a memo for our building's safety committe, looking at my binder cover which says "for every 600 unsafe acts there are 30 accidents, for every 30 accidents there are 10 personal injuries, for every 10 injuries there is 1 fatal or disableing injury"

accidents happen, idiots abound, some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed but let's be careful out there.

I'm afraid to some * I come off as a geek, woos (sp?) arrogant, chicken or something because I wear a helmet, obey traffic laws, am lit up like a menorah but let's be careful out there.

*including date mentioned in other thread

[profàvélo]

This is my hometown. We have a very active cycling community that has been hit very hard by this news. The following is from the news article:

'Menard had her own philosophy about protecting cyclists; start young. Menard spent hours at this year's Fall for Greenville fitting children with free helmets from the Greenville Spinners. She was an active part of the Greenville Spinners Safety Foundation, and friends said she could always be counted on to volunteer for educational workshops.

"It was her transportation by choice and her preferred method of getting around," Edwards said of Menard.'

What a terrible, needless loss. This is not someone who did not know how to ride safely. Other reports say that the sun obscured the driver's vision. Of course, if you cannot see, you should not be making a turn. We as cyclists must do everything we can to ride as safely as possible, but we also need to encourage more education for motorists, at least in SC.

[Trek420]

very sad

[WarriorPrncs]

This is very sad to hear that the poor woman's life was taken because either someone was not paying attention or couldn't see with the sun in their eyes. That is no excuse! The drivers around our area are really bad. They are either on their cell phones, eating, or whatever so we always have to be one step ahead of them. They run red lights, run you down in the bike lane when they are turning right, or use you as a moving target, etc., etc.

I'm a mountain biker and road biker but feel safer in the woods (even with all the mountain lions we have around our area) then on the streets.

BTW-- We've seen the kitty cats and they don't have road rage!

[kmoty]

To add insult to loss, so many of the cycling victims seem to be such wonderful people. Not to say the drivers aren't of course, and their contributions to the community probably don't make "news." On the other hand, a significant number seem to be driving drunk, without a license, otherwise suspect or just not paying attention.

In re the "kitties," no, they just do what cats do, and much more rarely than drivers, but be alert. See http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...ain-lion_x.htm.

Be careful out there...

K