Truly Saddened

This post is not about my feelings for R2CC from the standpoint of how they use the funds their riders raise.  I'll go into that in detail another time.   This is also not an attempt to assign blame to any of the involved parties, but more an attempt to show my frustration towards a tragedy that in my eyes was avoidable.

This past weekend on the Vancouver -Seattle R2CC a 16 year old participant lost his life needlessly.  This young man is a hero in my eyes.  At 16 he dedicated his time to rase funds for a noble cause (fighting cancer) and training to do a demanding physical event.  Many is the day I show up for work to repair the damage that kids in his age range do to a public park overnight in the warm season.  To see a young man focus his energy in a such a way is truly inspirational. I know the trouble makers are few but they make a bad name for a large group.  Its sad that the efforts of kids like young Mr Pelletier don't get more attention.

I feel horrible for his family and friends who witnessed the accident (and for those who didn't), for the driver who was not at fault, and for the many other event participants and emergency staff who witnessed the accident or it's aftermath.

The day before the accident I was on an R2S.ca training ride.  The ride was planned so that we could go northbound on 184th street and cheer on the riders who were riding south after starting the first day of their event. -And yes to raise awareness among them of our own event.   Our route was carefully planned and took into account posted road and lane closures for the R2CC.  We should have known better than to trust the postings.   The R2CC lost the right to use provincial highways because they couldn't control their riders in past years.  The northbound lane was technically "open to traffic" but  herd mentality overwhelmed the traffic controls that were in place.  What ensued was gridlock for vehicular traffic for about 40 minutes.

We stood on the side of 184th street -there was no way we could ride north safely, watching the riders come up the hill at us taking up both lanes (riding as many as 6 to 8 across) of the road.   Things got especially troubling when the police decided to "escort" -from behind, a hand full of cars and trucks northbound down the street.   It was pretty much impossible not to see that at some point there would be an accident. It could have happened in a past year, or it could have happened in a future year.  It was only a matter of time.

In my opinion,  an event this size is too big for it's own good.  It is impossible to keep 2500+ people following whatever traffic rules you lay out for them without massively increasing course marshalling.  In my opinion this event requires total road closures to make it safe.  Events like Grand Fondos charge riders very high entry fees to pay for the costs associated with road closures.  Honestly it is money well spent.

I don't have any practical answers here on how to make R2CC safe.  Total road closures would cost a lot of money and people are already hesitant to make donations knowing how much of what they've donated in past years has gone to running and promoting that particular event, spending more to run it may further limit donations.

Really I think smaller events (like the one I ride with) are the answer.  A small group of riders bookended by safety vehicles, rolling lane closures, and tight control over how participants are spaced out on the roadway, is much safer for all involved, and the costs associated with this are in relation to a large event are minimal and in R2S' case none of the donations go towards it.   Also there is less risk of angering drivers and encouraging them to take risks…

Despite my concerns with how  R2CC spends it funds that are raised, I have contributed to their riders in the past, knowing that they are doing the ride for the same reasons I do R2S.  After witnessing the chaos of Saturday and reading the horrible news from Sunday morning I won't be able to make R2CC donations in the future.  If asked I would instead offer to make a donation via R2S and in  honour of
their efforts.  

I am truly saddened by the loss of a vibrant young life this weekend and as such I hope I got my point across without too much self promotion.  What I want (beyond my other concerns with R2CC) is for their riders and ours to be safe while doing our part to fight Cancer.  In the end we all have the same goal.  Every year I dedicate my ride2survive, This year I ride for the heros like Xavier Pelletier who make a difference.