Even though I was out of cycling for a long time, I still have many friends who stayed in, and I've kept in touch with many of them. Others I knew only slightly, or in passing, such as Nicole Reinhart as a gangly 12-year-old, who I met at my first National Championships. I didn't know the woman who resulted from those early years, but now she is gone, and now I never will. I can say that at least I have some memory of her. Unfortunately, there are many who got involved in the sport while I was absent, and some of those people are no longer with us. I never met Dave Martin, who was killed just over two years ago in a tragic accident caused by the inattention (or worse, it's unclear from the story) of a driver.
From the Cartersville Daily Tribune News:
As David Lee Martin cycled home along U.S. Highway 41 three years ago, he called his wife to let her know he was on his way.
Just minutes after he hung up, Martin was dead, run over by a car that drove on to the shoulder and hit the biker.
When photos of Martin's wrecked bicycle were shown to jurors, Cynthia Ann Richardson, the woman charged in Martin's death, wiped away tears.
It was an emotional first day for both sides, said prosecutor Mickey Thacker.
"It's tragic for both families," Thacker said.
And it's not just a tragedy for the families, as the driver was found not guilty of first degree vehicular homicide, despite there being evidence of her using drugs at the time (as reported in the full article, which is not on the website). Richardson pled guilty to two counts of second degree vehicular homicide, which is a misdemeanor in Georgia, and carries a maximum sentence of one year, and a $1000 fine. This is a tragedy for ALL cyclists - we are now targets of opportunity, with a value of a thousand bucks. All they have to say is "my attention wandered - it was an accident."
One of the hobbies I used to have when I was on my "vacation" from cycling was golf. I read a lot of books about it, and one of my favorite authors was Harvey Penick. There's a famous story about how Harvey used to inscribe the inside of all his golf books that he signed "To my friend and pupil." When asked why he did this, he replied "If you read my book, you're my pupil, and if you play golf, you're my friend."
I don't pretend to understand our legal system. People who perform insanely petty crimes can, under the right (or wrong) circumstances be sent to jail for ridiculous lengths of time. Martha Stewart got sent up the river over $50,000 and a stock tip. The person who crossed over the white line to run down Dave Martin can quite possibly go free with little more than a slap on the wrist. That seems an absurd penalty for killing the friend I never knew.
