There was simply no vantage point to capture the entire crowd of cyclists that gathered in the High Point Regional Hospital parking lot. Estimates range between 500 and 600 riders, and the photo montage above was from panning my iPhone across the start of the 50-mile group from atop a small hill (click to enlarge).
Thankfully, the ride garnered a ton of local media coverage, increasing the likelihood of more drivers seeing that there are so many people in their community that ride bicycles on the road. Maybe the more they realize that it could be their neighbor, friend, pastor, doctor, attorney, co-worker, boss, employee or relative out there, the more they’ll realize that it’s a life on the road, not an obstacle. Check out some of the coverage:
http://www.myfox8.com/wghp-memorial-bike-ride-091115,0,6616660.story
http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/11/16/article/a_ride_to_remember_we_ride_for_dave
http://www.digtriad.com/video/default.aspx?aid=238912&storyid=133212
Heck, even CyclingNews mentioned the event in an article about Dave Zabriskie’s Yield to Life advocacy campaign, which was the benefactor of the money raised from the memorial ride:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/david-zabriskies-yield-to-life-seeks-safer-roads-for-cyclists
And if you’re big into Facebook, you can check out the massive photo gallery from the event here. I even made it into a few of the pics and *gasp* am wearing a competitor’s jersey! See Maurice, I told you I’d wear it!
