Very Sad-Local rider down

[jobob]

You all might disagree with me, but unless there's something useful to be learned from articles like this, I really don't see the point.

"Be careful on the roads..."

Do you think I (or anyone else) is going to be any more careful on account of an article about someone colliding with a truck and dying, than I have been before this article was posted ?

IMHO, the message this type of post conveys is that road biking is scarey and we should all wring our hands and be very afraid.

Cycling, particularly road cycling, can be hazardous, I think anyone can recognize that. But you can also be run down while walking across a parking lot. Maybe I should start posting articles of pedestrians being mowed down and killed? Then we can all be really really afraid.

Maybe I'm way off base here, but this has been bugging me for a while and I wanted to get it off my chest.

[velogirl]

You all might disagree with me, but unless there's something useful to be learned from articles like this, I really don't see the point.

I was at the scene of the accident and I'll share some useful thoughts. They should be second nature, but we obviously sometimes forget (or Pat would be alive today).

1. Don't get caught up in the moment.
2. Don't run stop signs, even if you "think" the way is clear.
3. Follow your doctor's orders. Pat had just suffered a concussion, doc said no racing, yet he went out on one of the fastest group rides in the bay area. I'd assume he still suffered impaired judgement, which likely led to his decision to run the stop sign.
4. Always carry a cell phone and have your emergency contact # programmed as ICE (in case of emergency).
5. Also in your cell, program the emergency numbers for the counties you ride in.
6. Don't call 911 (it's a state-wide dispatch) -- call the county # (see above) or call 411 and ask for the local EMS.

I don't get spooked by these articles. Cycling is a dangerous sport -- bottom line. We need to remember that. When we forget, we get lazy. We need to stay alert in order to stay alive.

And, I sure hope if I die in a bike crash, someone will post an article like this about me and someone else will learn something from that article.

If you don't want to read something, then don't read it. This is an open forum and we can click on whatever we choose to click on. I'm sure there are others who appreciate postings like this.

[velogirl]

Sorry if I seem passionate about this (I guess that makes two of us, right, JoBob?). Maybe I feel stronger about this because I was there. I've witnessed dozens of bike crashes over the years (racing, ya know), but never, ever anything like this. I knew from the day of the accident that it would be fatal. And it broke my heart because one minute Pat was a young, healthy man -- an athlete and a teacher -- a son and a partner. And the next minute the world had changed forever. Yup, I'm an emotional sap, but I want to been reminded that we're "real."

Anyways, the point of my post is that sometimes folks post articles like this not just as a message (safety), but also to honor/remember someone. Pat was like us (a bike rider). He lived in the same area, rode the same roads, and probably even knew some of the same people you do. Sometimes you just want to remember that and share the connection -- the human bond we have.

This is a crazy-fast world. We isolate ourselves in so many ways -- in our cars, homes, offices. I saw Dita's post as a way to reach out and connect us. Maybe I've just been living alone too long, but I appreciate it when someone makes the world a bit smaller and more human/personal.

If Dita hadn't written "be careful on the roads," implying a safety message, if she'd just posted the link, would you feel the same way about it?

Maybe Dita posted it because it made her feel better to post it. Maybe seeing the post made me (or someone else) feel better about the situation. Sometimes, we just need to be human.

[tomgrrrl]

Well said Velogirl....I read about this accident while I was away on vacation. I read the SFGate story about a wonderful young man.....I didn't have the honor of knowing him, but was so moved by reading about him that I looked up the website where friends and students had posted tributes. He sounded like an amazing man and gifted teacher....

Bad accidents do happen...in cars, on bikes, hiking, in the home....it doesn't mean we should be afraid. I will admit that after reading the article about this young man, I did think about riding and what transpired and what, if anything, I should do differently when I ride. That is not a bad thing....

[SadieKate]

I feel much the same way jobob does. Unless someone says "I knew this person and I'm grieving" or "here are the specific lessons learned" the posts come off as hand wringing. Having grown up the product of overly cautious parents, I learned fear at an early age -- fear of every little tiny thing that could possible cause me harm. My parents didn't teach me to be level-headed and go about my business with commonsense. They taught me to freeze up and to be afraid to try new things because “our precious little girl could be hurt.” I suffer today from these ingrained lessons. It is sheer stubbornness that has gotten me where I am today. I see an awful lot of behavior on this forum that appears to come from the same hand wringing parental skills (while I rarely see it in men) – and such posts without a stated point don’t help these women.

Posts honoring the rider, or requesting help in the grieving process, or providing useful thoughts to prevent further occurrences are fine, but I don’t see the benefits of the post when none of the above is specifically stated. Dita, I know you meant well and I know you are take an active role in helping folks learn safety skills, so I think you understand what I mean.

My passion is that we all learn the skills to fly -- not the fear.

[jobob]

I was going to let this slide, but Lorrie, but since you asked, when I see a post about an article describing some horrific bike accident, with nothing to be learned from the article (and please, if I missed something useful in that article, please point it out to me) other than oh look, yet another biker was maimed/killed on the roads, so lets all be careful out there, I see it as fear mongering.

But that's my opinion, obviously not shared by you or others.

And you're absolutely right, clearly some people appreciate these kinds of posts.

I appreciate them when there is something to be learned. Thank you Lorrie for following up with the useful information, which as far as I could tell was not present in the article.

And this is all I have to say on the matter.

- Joanne

[velogirl]

Luckily, we're all smart, sensitive, mature women and can appreciate that we have different points of view.

[spokewench]

I think that posting articles like this one is appropriate on a forum like this. 1. It is informative to people who may know the person involved and may want to know what happened so that they can mourn their friends.
2. I don't believe it is a mistake to say "be careful". All of us are guilty of forgeting to look close enough when we move left to pass or turn around, etc. (If you have never done this, you have not been riding long enough).
3. A couple of years ago, we had a local racer (this is a small town) killed by a drunk driver while riding his bike. Of course, he could not have been safer unless he had not been riding his bike at that particular time, but this brought to light how fragile our lives really are and that we should come together in the community for our friends who cycle, our friends who may have died cycling and their FAMILIES.
4. About one week after this happened, the ENTIRE cycling community came out for a supportive ride for the family/friends of the recently deceased cyclist (it was cold, cold, cold, raining/sleeting, but everyone was glad to be able to still be riding our bikes when our friend was no longer here to do it anymore.
5. You are part of the cycling community. Let's keep the community a warm, inviting and caring place to be a part of.