... all the cyclists who have been killed or injured by car or buses in the last year. The organizer held a brief meeting ,citing national statistics of mishaps involving cars an cyclists last year. He made it very clear that this wasn't some "anti-auto crusade", just a peaceful way of letting people know that cyclers are around.
One local rider's wife spoke before the ride on behalf of her husband, an avid road racer who was serverely injured when a school bus came too near him and he was struck by one of those huge side view mirrors that all buses have. Because he was wearing a helmet, he survived the accident, but he's in a coma until this day...
One fact that I didn't know about my particular state of Nevada: It is against the law for a cyclist to ride on the sidewalk. We have legal rights to the road. This was brought up illustrate that the occasional motorist's cry of "Why don't you get on the sidewalk where you belong!" is not valid.
Anyhow, the 35 bikers that showed up at 7:00 pm were mostly employees of several LBS and couple of mountain bikers. The pace was no more than 13 mph with no passing and the circular route was 16 miles through the "Entertainment Capital the World."
It was a little surreal seeing the huge casino neon lights in the background, but it was totally cool. Helmets, headlights and tailights were required and we had the option of signing a waiver -the ride was insured.
Quite an impressive sight and the ride has the desired effect: People paid attention to us! Motorists and pedestrians were waving at the peloton and asking what it was all about at stoplights and while it was supposed to be official a "silent ride", our leader was happy to oblige them!
One local rider's wife spoke before the ride on behalf of her husband, an avid road racer who was serverely injured when a school bus came too near him and he was struck by one of those huge side view mirrors that all buses have. Because he was wearing a helmet, he survived the accident, but he's in a coma until this day...
One fact that I didn't know about my particular state of Nevada: It is against the law for a cyclist to ride on the sidewalk. We have legal rights to the road. This was brought up illustrate that the occasional motorist's cry of "Why don't you get on the sidewalk where you belong!" is not valid.
Anyhow, the 35 bikers that showed up at 7:00 pm were mostly employees of several LBS and couple of mountain bikers. The pace was no more than 13 mph with no passing and the circular route was 16 miles through the "Entertainment Capital the World."
It was a little surreal seeing the huge casino neon lights in the background, but it was totally cool. Helmets, headlights and tailights were required and we had the option of signing a waiver -the ride was insured.
Quite an impressive sight and the ride has the desired effect: People paid attention to us! Motorists and pedestrians were waving at the peloton and asking what it was all about at stoplights and while it was supposed to be official a "silent ride", our leader was happy to oblige them!
