This past weekend, Mr. T volunteered his time to drive support for the James Quinn Memorial Bicycle Ride. He packed up his truck with extra wheels, tubes, tools, and pump, and rode as sweep and mechanic at the tail end of the ride.
He fixed innumerable flats.
He saw bikes of every age, model, and level of decrepitude—from department store mountain bikes with rotten tires and fraying brake cables, to high-end road models that hummed up the hills.
He saw people of every ability, including the woman who looked as if she had never ridden a bike in her life trying to go up Tramway with her hands in the air (?), and the man who tried to go up Tramway by zig zagging across the yellow line in the center of the road—until he was told him that if he didn’t stop doing that he would be pulled from the ride for endangering himself and others.
Nob Hill Velo showed up, including their juniors, as well as Sports Outdoors, KHS, BikeABQ, UNM Cycling, and the New Mexico Velo Sport.
83-year-old Gus the Pig Farmer came out because his wife saw it in the newspaper and made him do it, pacemaker and all.
The Bernalillo County Sheriff Department sent 5 cars, and the Albuquerque Police Department sent 3. There was police escort front, side, and back—every which way you looked.
The ride attracted at least 200 cyclists.
All riding in tribute and in support. As a way to raise awareness, some in anger and protest, and as a way to show a recently widowed young woman and grieving family how much they cared.
James Quinn arrived in New Mexico less than 2 months ago. He came with Ashley, his wife of 15 months, to attend the UNM Law School. On September 15th, he was riding with his wife toward Tijeras on Old Route 66, when he was hit by car and killed. He died at the scene. He was 28 years old.
The outpouring of support on this recent Saturday morning was overwhelming. James Quinn’s wife, sister and mother were present. There is still a lot of anger and controversy over this most recent cycling death. And concern over the increasing number of bicycle deaths and injuries. The accident occurred on a straight stretch of highway that each of us has ridden innumerable times. It’s a reminder to please be careful.
My heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of James Quinn.
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4 comments:
careful noted and good on Mr.T for doing what he did.
I like you did some back pedaling and found your Once upon a time post. Classic.
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Glad to hear you guys did such a wonderfull thing. It's very sad. Unfortunantly
all to many NM drivers are still very unsuportive & even perposefully dangerous
to cyclists. Hopefully NM will pass a law like Co. did where vehicles must give
3 feet when passing cyclists.
I did not know about the ride but what a kind thing to do for such a new family in town. I noted "the driver was not cited" wonder what that was about? Let's all be safe..
You know, I was shocked to learn that New Mexico does have laws about passing. You can read them here.
http://www.bikeabq.org/
We have laws about the amount of room that you're supposed to give cyclists. We have laws about how many cyclists are allowed on the road - two abreast is legal.
I looked this up the last time I got yelled at by some lady who insisted that I "get off the road" because she said it wasn't safe. We all need to know what the laws are.
I'm so happy to hear about what it was like at the ride - I'm really happy to hear that there were 300+ riders. Thanks for sharing!
And I'm really sad to hear about James Quinn.
Rest in peace.
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