When Will It End? | Tampa Bay Cyclists in Fatal Tandem Bike Crash | Hit by Impaired (Drunk) Driver

Показать описание

When will it end? There was a recent fatal cycling crash in Tampa Bay that involved two cyclists riding a tandem bike on a trail. They were experienced cyclists on a trail taking the path that is supposed to give us safety. What news reports describe as a drunk or impaired driver crossed over, hit a car coming in the opposite direction, which was knocked into them, even though they were physically separated in the roadway by a pretty substantial grass berm. What do we take away from such a tragic event? The driver goes to jail and the families of these two wonderful people are left to pick up the pieces of their lives. They're doing what they thought they were doing in the safest place possible to do it.

When I was a young rider, I met with the Executive Director of the Florida Freewheelers, and he'd been riding a long time and I was relatively new to road cycling. But I knew enough to understand there was danger involved in cycling. And I was talking to Scott and I said, "How do you approach this Scott?" And he said, "Jim, it's pretty easy, ‘everything in life we do does have some danger.’” And I think he's right, whether you water ski, snow ski, run, walk as a pedestrian. We're all exposed to certain dangers in life. And I think that we have to make a decision when we commit to a sport or undertake an activity, do we understand that there may be some risk involved in that activity? And I think we accept that, but I think it's so difficult to get your head around the unexpected, the inexplicable criminal act of someone, totally out of the blue, which changes the dynamic and takes someone's life unexpectedly, unnecessarily, and tragically. And I think for each of us who ride, now we pour out our hearts, we pray for the families of these two wonderful people. We mourn their loss and we mourn the impact that this has on them. And we have to, I think, examine our own lives too.

So what do we do? What do we take away from this? I think some will say, "I'm not gonna ride", and I understand that. I can just speak for me. I look at my life and I've decided to pursue a sport that I love. I was chatting with my wife about this, this morning, and she said, "you know, Jim, you and I are gonna sit here this morning, have breakfast. We're gonna say goodbye to one another. You're gonna go off, and I'm assuming you're going to walk back through the door at the end of the day, but there's no guarantee that that will happen." Life is uncertain and in everything we do, we encounter unexpected events. So I think for me, it's a powerful reminder. I'm committed to doing what I love in terms of the sport. I'm committed to helping the sport as best that I can, in terms of the message of safety and all the things that we talk about. But I'm committed to enjoying each ride, each day, and each relationship that I have been so blessed to have, knowing that there is no guarantee that I'm gonna walk back in at the end of the day. But I'm gonna commit myself to enjoy and cherish those things, and to do what I can do to make my sport as safe as it can be.