Another cyclist gone...

[Geonz]

I know how this hurts; I lost a friend at the beginning of March, horribly similar deal... wide open country road, she and her husband experienced riders on a tandem (she was blind) with flags and banners and a trailer in the back... gone is such a permanent word.
(Here... our state's attorney will probably charge the driver with a petty misdemeanor -- failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. I'm afraid that absolutely everything our state's attorney says, does, and doesn't would be indicative that she sincerely believes bicyclists should stay off the roads.)
It pisses me off. If the nice people who really didn't mean any harm and gosh, don't we feel *sorry* for them because they have to live wiht this ... are going to run me off the road, they *do* have to do it literally, because Cindy and David didn't have a choice-- their disabilities meant that bike was their way everywhere. And it's more bicycles out there that will make it safer. I am hoping to figure out how to make rear air bags for bicycles -- especially if they'll permanently take out the car that gets too close to them...

[Crankin]

More information about the kind of person he was.

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/...killed_in.html

[Deborajen]

Crankin, I'm so sorry. What a terrible loss.

[emily_in_nc]

Damn, that's so sad and tragic. I am so sorry for you, his other friends, his family, his patients, and colleagues. Too many good people die on our roads.

We lost a remarkable cyclist and friend a few years ago, actually in a car accident, but it hit me really hard as he was someone I so admired and who had been so kind to me after my cycling accident. He had also encouraged and helped me with my cycling when we road with a club.

This also scares me b/c my DH rides LOTS of solo miles, and losing him this way is my biggest fear. I don't worry nearly as much about myself, but when he's out there alone, even though he's a great bike handler and very experienced, that doesn't keep something like this from happening. So many drivers are distracted and just don't see us.

I can't wait to escape to Belize. Where we'll be, the number of motor vehicles is a small fraction of in the US per capita. Most vehicles are golf carts and bicycles. After losing my dad in a car accident, I've really grown to loathe cars.