Well yesterday was a bloody day at the Tour de France.  I’m a cyclist.  Not a very good one, but one just the same.  I caught the bug in 1994 when I was ready to get in shape and it is pretty much the only outdoor cardio I can do because of my knee and ankle.  So, I started riding and I love it. My obsession started innocently enough with spinning classes.  Then I got a bike and would ride in forest park.  Now there are bike trails in lots of place and thanks to Lance Armstrong, biking has become a respectable sport and I can ride on the road without too much danger of being run over by one of those huge trucks with the balls hanging off the trailer hitch.

Getting his is always on a cyclists mind.  It is a very real danger.  I work hard to make sure I share the road and only use the space I need.  When there is a shoulder to ride on that is safe (clear of debris), I ride there.  When there isn’t a safe shoulder, I hug the line.

But as a rider in the Tour de France, you pretty much put getting hit by a car at the bottom of things that are going to go wrong.  These drivers are professionals and they know that the right of way goes to the guys on the bike.  The guys they are filming. The guys whose quest and work is what gives them a paycheck.  As, I sat and watched Sunday morning’s stage, I was floored and sick, as a TV car took out one of the guys in a 5 man break away, causing another to go up and over his handlebars at an unbelievable speed.  The riders both got up and ended up finishing the stage (which is a testament to their physical conditioning and their ability to endure unimaginable pain.

But what kept running through my head is that that car could have killed that rider.  Could. Have. Killed. Him.  These are real people riding bikes.  Fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, uncles, brothers, etc.  So please remember this when you approach a cyclist.  We aren’t out there to get in your way or make your drive more difficult.  We are just like you, on our way somewhere and we only want to get there and get home safe to our family.  Take a moment, slow down and move a little to the left.