outdoor ride

[y-guy]

For all riding enthusiast. Check out this site. Organize a ride in your area. Visit the locations link to see where the closest ride is.

www.rideofsilence.org


y

[AC]

First off...thanks for posting this. It made me stop for a minute to remember Bill Fox of New York who's funeral I attended in June of 2002 after he was killed in a cycling accident. Bill was a terrific Spinning instructor who participated in a lot of extended indoor rides that I also participated in. Bill was intelligent, engaging and coached many people to extend their abilities on the bike.

I went to the link and couldn't help wondering why so many souls were lost to this activity in the last 5 or 6 years? It makes me wish there were a version of MADD to advocate cyclists rights on the road. An aggressive group who advocate harsh penalties to drivers who cause injury or death under the influence of alchohol. Drivers who injure cyclists should have the same penalties as a driver who is DWI.

[madcyclist]

AC,

Last year, we had 2 people killed on the W&OD trail at intersections over the course of 3 weeks. In Loudoun County case, the driver in one case was let off with, what amount to, a slap on the wrist because he claimed he was traveling at a really low speed (something ridiculous like 10 mph). Yeah right! Well because the poor cyclist wasn’t in court to defend himself, the court sheepishly went along with the driver’s account of the story – no investigation.

To add insult to injury, shamefully, soon afterwards (maybe a week later) one of our proud local newspapers ran a cartoon featuring this particular cyclist which incensed the cycling community here in northern VA; the cartoon depicted this gentleman at the gates of heaven with his bike. The man's body was barely cold in his grave and the paper couldn’t wait to seize the opportunity to poke fun at this tragedy. Needless to say, I was one of those folks who blasted the newspaper. Seems like the COPs in Loudoun County are ready to hand out tickets if you run a stop sign, but, where is the law when you are ran off the road or worst killed due to some jack-ass driver. (DON'T GET ME STARTED - they call me MADcyclist for a reason.)

There are some local efforts, however, they seem to be disjointed. I saw some ads for an advocacy group that featured Lance Armstrong as a spokesperson. This is the closet thing to MADD for cyclist I can recall.

Anyone know the name of this group?
--

[joanhan]

League of American Bicyclists

[love2spin]

This scares the hell out of me! We had a group of riders that was hit by a drunk driver last summer. One of the riders, a mother was killed. Others were injuried. Just yesterday on our ride, 3 boys were walking down the road and tried to closeline my husband. Very scarey. The teen yelled #%#^and said "Get on the bike path".

it is a shame we aren't equal on the road. :(

[Mark M]

Where I live, we have one bike route path. It's full of debris, glass, sticks and road kill. The bike path is more dangerous than the cars.

[lizardbiker]

Where I live, we have one bike route path. It's full of debris, glass, sticks and road kill. The bike path is more dangerous than the cars.

I went for a ride yesterday to check my route home on Wednesday from the local ride of silence. I wish I had a camera with me - I'll definitely get a picture posted before the season is over - there's a short portion of the road with a "Bike Lane" - in addition to the debris, there are large storm grates, one of which has a big sharp step up of several inches. Right before the huge storm grate with the large step is the bike lane symbol. Looks more like a bike trap - if the step doesn't blow a tire or damage your wheel, the grate will get you for sure!

I'll be riding the in the Camp Hill, PA Ride of Silence if anyone else is in the neighborhood. I think Beth is riding there too.

[BFSpin]

Yup, I'll be there - although if the thunderstorms that are predicted materialize, I may re-think it.

Liz, we should make a meeting plan -

Beth

[lizardbiker]

Yup, I'll be there - although if the thunderstorms that are predicted materialize, I may re-think it.

Liz, we should make a meeting plan -

Beth

I've been following the weather quite closely too. Short of a major lightening storm, I'll still do it - just change what I plan to wear and what wheelset to use. I should be at the starting point early as I'm riding there directly from work so we can definitely chat before they tell us to be quiet if you want to :D

[BFSpin]

I'll stay in touch - the latest from weather.com puts showers in the a.m. on Wed., so maybe things are looking up :)

Beth