Couple of fatalities: Land's End to John O'Groats
Discussion
A friend has just completed the Deloitte Ride Across Britain from Land's End to John O'Groats.
They were all a bit wary as a female rider Anna Roots, doing the ride for charity with a friend in reverse starting at John O'Groats a week earlier, had died after a collision with a lorry only 55 miles into the ride.
Sadly, the worst happened on their ride. With the 800 strong supported contingent only having two days to reach their goal without major incident, one of the party was involved in an accident with a car and was critically injured, and died the next day in hospital.
Ironically, it sounds like it was a bike attached to the back of the car that caught Sally as it went by and knocked her off.
RIP Sally Preece https://www.justgiving.com/Sally-Preece-RAB/ and Anna Roots https://www.justgiving.com/beksannaJOGLE/.
Edit - I thought I may add some comment - containing a lot of prejudice so apologies.
I'm frustrated at the needless loss of life. I can't help but feel anger at the drivers of the vehicles involved, in fact any driver who manages to knock down a cyclist. I know it may not all be their fault, and I'm sure they are gutted at killing someone, but FFS how can you manage to go out of your way and hit someone riding along by the side of the road?
And from a personal point, am I to expect expect fatal consequences every time I want to enjoy the simple pleasure of going for a bike ride?
This news has depressed me. More people are cycling, more cars are on the roads. This is only going to get worse unless attitudes and behaviours of road users change. I like the sound of the California 3 foot rule and penalties for hitting cyclists. Maybe this would help?
They were all a bit wary as a female rider Anna Roots, doing the ride for charity with a friend in reverse starting at John O'Groats a week earlier, had died after a collision with a lorry only 55 miles into the ride.
Sadly, the worst happened on their ride. With the 800 strong supported contingent only having two days to reach their goal without major incident, one of the party was involved in an accident with a car and was critically injured, and died the next day in hospital.
Ironically, it sounds like it was a bike attached to the back of the car that caught Sally as it went by and knocked her off.
RIP Sally Preece https://www.justgiving.com/Sally-Preece-RAB/ and Anna Roots https://www.justgiving.com/beksannaJOGLE/.
Edit - I thought I may add some comment - containing a lot of prejudice so apologies.
I'm frustrated at the needless loss of life. I can't help but feel anger at the drivers of the vehicles involved, in fact any driver who manages to knock down a cyclist. I know it may not all be their fault, and I'm sure they are gutted at killing someone, but FFS how can you manage to go out of your way and hit someone riding along by the side of the road?
And from a personal point, am I to expect expect fatal consequences every time I want to enjoy the simple pleasure of going for a bike ride?
This news has depressed me. More people are cycling, more cars are on the roads. This is only going to get worse unless attitudes and behaviours of road users change. I like the sound of the California 3 foot rule and penalties for hitting cyclists. Maybe this would help?
Edited by prand on Monday 15th September 12:32
Very sad news. A mate of mine was on this ride ... not spoken yet as it only finished yesterday.
Seems such a waste of life ... out there enjoying a ride and then life is over.
I agree, until the government bring in a law like California, the uptake in more cyclists will only see an increase in fatalities.
Seems such a waste of life ... out there enjoying a ride and then life is over.
I agree, until the government bring in a law like California, the uptake in more cyclists will only see an increase in fatalities.
I was on the Deloitte RAB this year, got back at 3am this morning. Apparently Sally was riding on her own at the time of the crash, the only witnesses were the occupants of the cars involved, there was some speculation that she may have swerved to avoid a pothole - but this is just speculation AFAIK.
Not withstanding these tragic events, I have to say the overall RAB was incredible, and I have the utmost admiration for Threshold Sports who organised it. I haven't read the links, but following the crash and subsequent road closure, Threshold were also faced with the problem of having 600 odd riders stranded 30 to 60 miles into a 127 mile stage with no feasible way of cycling to the stage end in Fort William, they managed to organise coaches to transport the riders and bikes, as well as dealing with emergency services, contacting Sally's next of kin etc, and I have to say they dealt with it pretty faultlessly.
Sadly we all know these sorts of things can happen when cycling on fast winding country roads (or congested city roads), the vehicle that hit Sally was travelling South, the riders were heading North, and I would say Sally was probably in the 1st 100 or so riders on the ride so I don't think you can blame congestion / road rage related to the cycling event. Weather and visibility were good, road was dry
With the blessing of Sally's husband, and corporate team mates, the ride continued the next day, though the atmosphere was understandably rather subdued. Both before and after there was a real sense of camaraderie and common purpose amongst the riders, and I genuinely believe the overall event was one of the, if not the, greatest experiences of my life. I know there are lots of different ways to undertake the "end to end" experience, but i wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Deloitte RAB.
I don't mean this to sound like an advert for Deloitte RAB, but I wouldn't want anyone to be put off the idea of doing the event because of a tragic accident which was sadly "one of those things" and not specifically related to some inherent danger in undertaking an organised LEJOG/JOGLE.
Not withstanding these tragic events, I have to say the overall RAB was incredible, and I have the utmost admiration for Threshold Sports who organised it. I haven't read the links, but following the crash and subsequent road closure, Threshold were also faced with the problem of having 600 odd riders stranded 30 to 60 miles into a 127 mile stage with no feasible way of cycling to the stage end in Fort William, they managed to organise coaches to transport the riders and bikes, as well as dealing with emergency services, contacting Sally's next of kin etc, and I have to say they dealt with it pretty faultlessly.
Sadly we all know these sorts of things can happen when cycling on fast winding country roads (or congested city roads), the vehicle that hit Sally was travelling South, the riders were heading North, and I would say Sally was probably in the 1st 100 or so riders on the ride so I don't think you can blame congestion / road rage related to the cycling event. Weather and visibility were good, road was dry
With the blessing of Sally's husband, and corporate team mates, the ride continued the next day, though the atmosphere was understandably rather subdued. Both before and after there was a real sense of camaraderie and common purpose amongst the riders, and I genuinely believe the overall event was one of the, if not the, greatest experiences of my life. I know there are lots of different ways to undertake the "end to end" experience, but i wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Deloitte RAB.
I don't mean this to sound like an advert for Deloitte RAB, but I wouldn't want anyone to be put off the idea of doing the event because of a tragic accident which was sadly "one of those things" and not specifically related to some inherent danger in undertaking an organised LEJOG/JOGLE.
prand said:
Ironically, it sounds like it was a bike attached to the back of the car that caught
If true , I wouldnt be surprised or that it doesn't happen more often. Some people dont seem to know what they have on the back, and when youre cycling youd think is just a car coming past but not with a great big wide thing behind it.Worst I've seen was a sideways 2 seater canoe.
RIP
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