Tragedies

A lot has been said about the tragedy in Mexico that claimed the life of one cyclist and injured at least 10 others. I can't even begin to find all the links and discussions about this terribly senseless tragedy.

The best commentary I've seen on this though belongs to Dave Moulton. It's no secret that I have immense respect for the Dave as a framebuilder, but I also have great respect for him as a writer. His post is eloquent and fitting. I won't even bother to try and say anything more because he does it far, far better than I could ever hope to.

My good friend Stevil at How to Avoid the Bummer Life had a post up yesterday about the incident. Then he pulled it down and replaced with another post- trying to bring back a little less of the Bummer. But ultimately that post came down too- after all, the blog is a marketing extension of the Swobo brand. As a marketer myself, I can see the reasoning... but as a cyclist I can also see the need to share the tragedy as a way to remind all to be careful and thankful and to pray for those touched by this incident. Solidarity and community are really important- I know this now more than ever.

My friends from the Spokesmen and I have been talking about this incident via email this morning as well. Is it good or bad to show the terrible image and is it good or bad to really even discuss it. There are concerns over the friends and families of the injured and killed, as well as sheer decency over continually spreading the image of somebody losing their life in such a terrible way. Like CyclingNews did with their mention of the incident, I've chosen not to show the picture. I have chosen not to because it simply hurts to much to see. I was the victim of a hit and run crash nearly four years ago and I am now recovering from injuries in a racing crash. Knowing a little too intimately how the survivors feel makes it hard to look at or show the picture. Also, I must admit that if pictures existed of my accident, I would feel a little sick seeing them on the Internet- because it was traumatic and was something that emotionally impacted my daughter as well as me (since she was there).

My point is that I do feel it is necessary to talk about this and to be upset about it. But I think we all make our own judgment calls on how we choose to do it and what we choose to say, or show. I'm lucky to be alive today, as are the 10 other crash victims. I give thanks every day that I get to see my kids and deal with the healthcare headaches I have. Life is a blessing and is never a guarantee. I share in the pain of this tragedy and I hope that everybody who reads this will pray for the victims and the people who love them. I also hope that everybody will take a moment to love themselves and their families and friends. I've said it before, but life is far too short and we never know when our understanding of it will change dramatically and without warning.

Ok, enough with the heavy thoughts for today.

Tim

Coolness...

Taking a short departure from my injury stories and ramblings about bicycles for just a moment... so indulge me.

Today, during my usual rounds of the InterWeb, I stopped over at the blog of my friends over at Swobo, How to Avoid the Bummer Life. My buddy Stevil wrote another of his epically good posts. Buried in this rough, yet somehow special gemstone of a post, was a song and music video that has been stuck in my head ever since.



I'm a total music dork. Just like I'm a bike dork or a coffee dork, I loves me some music. The video and song are great, but I really and truly marveled at the talent of the artist. I mean, to create such an amazingly catchy song and corresponding video using very short snippets from the Disney movie Alice in Wonderland... I just kept listening and listening and listening and listening. Maybe it's just me, but I doubt it because the song is really awesome.

So if you have the 2:43 to spare, you should give it a listen/ look and make up your own mind.

Tim
(Best of all, there is a free MP3 download available for the song!)

Linky love...

Stevil Knevil over at How to Avoid the Bummer Life (HTATBL) recently listed the Bike Snob NYC as a must read and I have to admit that he was absolutely right! There are a lot of fixed gear posseurs who will read this stuff and wince in pain (I hope at least), but Bike Snob is some of the funniest bike-centric satire/ criticism I've ever read. Seriously, I laugh 'til I cry on a regular basis.

Speaking of funny-ass sh*t... HTATBL has tons of it too, so go give it a read.

Both of these two sites are well worth the read and I certainly hope you'll go do that... right now!

I do intend to finally update my blog roll links in the coming days/ weeks/ months. I probably read 50-60 different bike and marketing related blogs a day. Many of them have become like members of my family and I simply can't wait to go sniff around their kitchens and smell what's cookin'. So stay tuned.

Tim