NAC: Ride of Silence tomorrow

[Brendan]

Yes, but it's not a one-sided affair. How many cyclists do I see doing insanely 
dumb things without helmets on in NH? 10-15 a day? It's not all one-sided. I 
ride a bike as well, and have even been hit by a car, but still I tend to 
realize that the roads are NOT made for bikes (talk to your local city 
planner), bikers do not need training to get on a bike and motorists are too 
dumb to drive, let alone watch out for near-silent, near-invisible bikers, 
especially at night. When on my bike, I stay away from traffic, fully-helmeted, 
with rigid gloves and elbow-pads. Yeah, I'm a chick-magnet, but my 300lb butt 
has fallen a few times and never hurt myself.

Bikes and cars do not mix. Drivers are just mostly too dumb and bikers get 
hurt when a mix-up occurs.

On Wednesday 20 May 2009, LL - NY wrote:
> One of my college buddies (and room mates and team mates) was mauled by a
> cellphone toting motorist that decided to blow off a cop in a closed course
> section of a bike race that he was in the year after he graduated from WPI.
> He's now living life with his right leg 60 mm shorter than his left leg.
> Driver received a failure to yield and failure to obey violation. Andrew
> nearly died (he's okay now, but he's still pissed, he lives it every day).
>
> I've had many a near miss, totally empathize with you there Brett. My
> support is fully behind the ride(s).
>
> LL - NY
>
> On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 12:15 AM, Brett Dikeman 
<brett.dikeman at gmail.com>wrote:
> > Most of you don't know this, but last year I was struck by a car while
> > biking to work and broke a bone in my hand.  I was in front and to the
> > side of him for more than half a minute at a traffic light.  When the
> > light changed green, I made a left turn and he went straight from the
> > left turn only lane, striking me in the process and knocking me off my
> > bike.
> >
> >  The driver received a $50 ticket, which he probably got out of,
> > given that I wasn't allowed to come to the hearing where he contested
> > the ticket.  I received a trip to the ER, 3 doctor's visits, weeks out
> > of work, nightmares, and two casts over the course of 5-6 weeks on my
> > dominant hand. I consider myself fortunate that I fell away from the
> > car, and not under.
> >
> > When I was injured, I was astounded at the sheer number of people I
> > knew who had at least one friend who was also injured in a crash with
> > a car.
> >
> > Tomorrow evening, all around the country, there will be a Ride of
> > Silence to commemorate bicyclists injured or killed by drivers.  Full
> > details can be found here:
> >
> > http://www.rideofsilence.org/
> >
> > ...including state-by-state ride locations.
> >
> > Please- if you have a bicycle in good working order, a helmet, and
> > lights (you should have all of these if you ride anyway), I ask that
> > you attend a ride near you.
> >
> > Thank you,
> > Brett
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