KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — Over three hundred cyclists turned out yesterday to complete the ride started by nine members of the Chain Gang Bicycle club a year ago.
They never finished it because they were struck by a pickup truck driven by a man who had allegedly swallowed a handful of pills prior to getting behind the wheel.
Paul Seldon with the club says it was a wonderful turnout.
The money raised from the event will be spent to build a memorial to the five who died and the four who survived, and to cyclists everywhere who risk their lives every time they venture out into traffic.
Seldon was reluctant to talk about the design for the memorial, which will be located in nearby Markin Glen Park, but we have learned that it will include a granite stone, iron artwork and there will be benches nearby.
In the meantime, the Ghost Bike Memorial, which was removed for the Winter, has returned to the spot where crash occurred.
State Senator Margaret O’Brien joined Mayor Bobby Hopewell and others to lead the memorial ride out to the spot on North Westnedge where members of the Chain Gang bicycle club were mowed down by an intoxicated driver last June.
O’Brien managed to get some legislation through last session to afford more protection to bikers and plans to reintroduce some of the measures that didn’t make it last year, and measures proposed years ago by Senator Tom George that fell short of passage.
O’Brien wants to take the 5 foot buffer rule adopted in Kalamazoo and Portage and make it the law statewide.
Before the ride, the four survivors gathered with others at St. Thomas More Parish near the WMU Campus to remember the five who died last year.
None of them remember the crash itself, but one year later, they were all there to finish what they started a year ago, and make what would have been a relatively routine 28 mile ride something to remember for all those who participated in Wednesday evening’s event.
Below is the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL MASS for CYCLISTS presented as a homily by Father Ken Schmidt, former Pastor, St. Thomas More Student Parish, Kalamazoo[current Pastor, St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Portage]
This gathering is all about love. Love is why we’re here.For some of us it’s because of a particular relationship with one of the cyclists who was injured or who died. We come to show our love for them.For others of us, it’s to show love and to give support to grieving family members and supportfor the survivors and their families who bear their unique burdens.For some of us, it’s because of our love for our community, and a chance to be with oneanother, united in prayer, united in our concern for the safety and welfare of those who live ingreater Kalamazoo.The three Scripture readings give us additional perspective on love from God’s point of view:–the Gospel tells us that God’s love is so great the he willingly humbles himself to be ourservant.The Old Testament reading from the Book of Wisdom tells us that God’s love is so great that,what seems to our eyes to be a disaster – from God’s perspective is a passage to immortality,a passage to God’s eternal grace, mercy, and truth.And the selection from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us about the strength of God’s lovethat no power on heaven or earth can break the bond of love that God has with each of us.Tonight as we come together, we are pulled into that same bond, an unbreakable bond notsevered by injury or death, not broken by tragedy or time. Nothing in the heavens or on the earth can destroy the bond of love we have for the cyclists, for one another, and for our community.Thanks be to God, who with the greatest love the world has ever known, calls us a home for the ultimate eternal union of love. And so in the meantime, we manage to carry on, knowing that Love waits for us and our reunion with those we love.
Bob Wilson with the Michigan Trails and Greenway Alliance
