BQ's Matthew Coley ride

Hi all,

I did the ride on Saturday for Matthew Coley. There was a huge turnout,
and BQ and Qld Police did a great job of organising people. We all got
yellow crepe paper streamers for our handlebars and stickers on our
backs (unfortunately it really was "Hit and Run, it's no fun! I
wouldn't, would you?"). It was only a short ride but took about half an
hour and there was plenty of media attention. Have to admit it was a bit
scary riding in a group of people who weren't used to group rides - I
took a friend who hadn't ridden like that before, but I gave him all the
rules on the way there. Think several hundred people and no one yelling
"stopping".

The police did a great job of keeping traffic out of the way, and
Matthew's wife gave a moving speech and was very grateful for everyone
who turned up.

The Deputy Mayor came on the ride with us. He spoke afterwards; one of
his comments earned applause, it went something like, "I went skydiving
this morning up at Redcliffe and I've got to say, cycling on Brisbane
roads can be a hell of a lot scarier than jumping out of a plane."

Prizes were given out randomly and both recipients donated them back to
the family for future raffles, etc.

We got "play fair - share the road" stickers which I'll keep handy to
slap on cars that get too close to me. I guess the irony was that once
proceedings were over, people went to ride home, and I'm assuming it
wasn't just me who nearly got wiped out several times by cars!

Tam

"Tamyka Bell" wrote
I did the ride on Saturday for Matthew Coley.

He's recovering well isn't he? But they still haven't
caught the driver?

This kind of thing could be done for every cyclist
killed or seriously injured on the road due to
someone's dodgy driving. If it can draw so many
people, it _has_ to be beneficial for raising drivers'
awareness of cyclists on the roads, surely?

hippy

hippy wrote:

"Tamyka Bell" wrote
I did the ride on Saturday for Matthew Coley.

He's recovering well isn't he? But they still haven't
caught the driver?

This kind of thing could be done for every cyclist
killed or seriously injured on the road due to
someone's dodgy driving. If it can draw so many
people, it _has_ to be beneficial for raising drivers'
awareness of cyclists on the roads, surely?

hippy

He is recovering well, and his family is very pleased to have him home.
The ride gave me a bit of a warm and fuzzy, too, because I think it must
have drawn a lot of attention to the situation, and I'd happily do the
same for any other cyclist or for anyone in a hit-and-run.

No one has come forward still, and I think that's tragic. I hope it's
because the person who did it kept it secret and has already died in an
accident somehow. I don't want to believe that someone hit a cyclist,
didn't know, went home and saw it on TV, saw damage to their car and
decided to ignore it; or worse, hit a cyclist, realised it, and sped
off; and either way has decided they can live with that knowledge.

T

PS It's so wet in BrisVegas today, the rain is like a big grey curtain
that totally destroys all visibility, so if you're cycling PLEASE
consider taking the train and PLEASE at least wear bright colours and
use flashing lights and PLEASE pull over when it gets really heavy and
use cycle paths wherever possible.