Upsetting

looks like I'll be building my first Ghost bike

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/bicyclist-killed-hit-and-run-crash-point-breeze-po/nP3c7/

My heart goes out the man's family.

I find this very upsetting, it shouldn't be like this.

Dr Albert Varacallo - Ghost Bike

Sunday Sept 19 - 2010

Ride of Silence in DuBois Pa and placing of a yet another Ghost Bike. Yet again it seems as if the default position of the police is that the cyclist is at fault and no charges or investigation is expected.

Things like this upset me more than I can say.

I am upset because a man was killed and the powers that be put so little value on his life.
(The person who killed Don Parker was fined 500$)

I am upset because what happened here is NOT the exception but the rule. The more I hear about these accidents the more I see the same story over and over.

I just noticed this on the Bike PGH forums as I was writing this.
MD Senate candidate is struck and killed by SUV (Read Forum Posting Here)

Here is an excerpt from the forum posting (Thanks Mick)
Interesting article

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=112106&catid=175

Some excerps:
"Police say initial reports had not found any reflective clothing or materials near the crime scene or on Pettigrew."

*AND*

"9NEWS NOW found pieces of reflective plastic just a few feet from the accident scene as well as a reflective sneaker which Pettigrew's mother identified as the victim's."

Way to do your job, Police...
 I am upset by this not just because of them, but also because of US (Cyclists)
We want to work 'within the system'
We want to show a 'positive face'
We want to be 'respectful'

Personally I am getting tired of being 'Respectful' to people who don't respect me. I am tired of showing a 'Positive Face' in the face of verbal abuse, and dangerous actions. The past has shown us that we are not 'Within the system'.

What am I saying, Am I calling for ULock Justice?

NO.

Am I calling for groups of cyclist in black taking down the drivers who are a danger to us

NO (but it is a thought)

What I am saying is that until we as cyclists need to be more vocal and more visible. This may mean crossing the line from 'Memorial Ride' to 'Protest'. This may mean dropping the Positive Face and letting people know that we aren't going to just sit back and take it anymore.

If it means I don't have to write about another cyclist run down and then blamed for it, then I can live with that.

Ghost Bike - Remembrance

Photo by M.V.Jantzen

What you see above is called a Ghost bike and if your interested in what a Ghost Bike is you can find out more at http://www.ghostbikes.org/ in essence a Ghost Bike is a memorial for a cyclist that has been struck and killed by a motorist.

From the Ghost Bike Website:
"Ghost Bikes are small and somber memorials for bicyclists who are killed or hit on the street. A bicycle is painted all white and locked to a street sign near the crash site, accompanied by a small plaque. They serve as reminders of the tragedy that took place on an otherwise anonymous street corner, and as quiet statements in support of cyclists' right to safe travel."

I have been riding off and on for the past few years and during that time I have to admit that I have had little contact with the biking community. I have always been in my own little world, thinking my own little thoughts and never really looking outside of myself.

Things have a way of changing, more clearly, Life has a way of changing these things.

Well ok, getting run off the road has a way of changing things. Combine that with the fact that less than two weeks after my accident a man (Don Parker - 52) was struck and killed nearby. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10147/1061257-100.stm  it had an effect on me (his Ghost Bike was placed on Memorial Day (Editor Note: it was the day before memorial Day http://kdka.com/local/Don.Parker.memorial.2.1724167.html) and I was still to banged up to join in the ride of silence) . As the road rash on my leg is fading and the pain in my shoulder is slowly getting better I find myself more aware of the cyclists around me. I also find myself gripped with the desire to connect with these people, my people. So I look forward to the future not with fear of getting run off the road again (I'm sure it will happen) but with the excitement of meeting as many of the other cyclists that are out there as I can.