R.I.P.

by CannonDowell on Jun 8, 2008 10:52 PM EDT Comment 5 comments

Meredith Hatch, 38, and Michael Alfaro, 36

These two cyclist were riding on the very roads that I ride on. The story says they are from Mansfield. This is where many of my family lives and is 10 minutes from me.

Story here.

Although I did not know them, i would like to send my condolences.

Had I not been busy this morning, i would likely been on this road sometime this morning. I am very saddened by this.

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Shit

these stories are why I’m constantly yelling at drivers. How can any cyclist not be completely on edge all the time?

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris... on Jun 9, 2008 9:52 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It's gotten almost unbearable for me to ride in Chicago anymore...

even though we are considered a “bike friendly” city. I’ve had a ton of close calls, but actually got hit for the first time last week. I was cruising around the streets of my neighborhood at low speeds, and a guy backs out of an alley into the middle of the street without looking. The excuse he gave me was that he got a phone call he had to take and thought his foot was on the break. I tumbled over the bars, and thankfully, landed safely on his trunk, which was a lot closer and softer than the ground. The only injury was straining my calf muscle from my knee-jerk reaction to get my feet unclipped as quick as possible through brute force.

I have lived in the city for 9 years, and this year has been the worst. I run a lot as well as bike, and I have been forced to hop up on a car to stop it from running me over at least four times this year.

The awareness I have to have while biking or running nowadays has almost taken all of the joy out of it. I don’t know why the sudden change either. The last eight years have been fine, and people were respectable and shared the road and crosswalks with runners.

Now, it is nothing but a shit show where it seems like I have a massive target on my back every time I set foot out the door. My fear is that it only gets worse as gas prices go through the roof. More and more people are biking to work in Chicago, which is great, but there are a lot of inexperienced riders that are buzzing by with headphones not paying attention to anything.

Everyone. Please be aware of your surroundings, whether you are walking, running or riding. I don’t want to sound preachy, but i’m actually considering a move to the burbs (god forbid) just because I don’t want someone to post a story about me on podium cafe.

by PopUp Rolen on Jun 9, 2008 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have to agree with PopUp Rolen.

I’ve always been gun shy about riding on the roads around here and I honestly don’t know how Christian does it (especially in the weather he does it in). C and I both are in the southwest burbs versus the city but I agree this year is worst than last fall. I’ve ridden the streets in my area (not to bad if I stay on the very side streets) and up near Carol Stream and Schaumburg and each time there has been something that gets my nerves on edge. I now stick to courses and forest preserves as much as I can to completely avoid autos. The last incident a driver almost took out my friend as they cut to turn directly in front of her. And that was on a day when there were just a boat load of riders, walkers, runners, skaters, kids, etc all over the place so an excuse of not noticing by the driver does not work for me. I’d love to ride the road more but it really makes me nervous.

"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed."

by nikki on Jun 9, 2008 2:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs