That day, some experienced transit delays, vehicular breakdowns or other emergencies. Others called in sick. Still others changed or cancelled other routines for all sorts of reasons.
That morning, they didn’t go to their offices, shops, kitchens or other workplaces. Some missed a day’s pay; others worried—only a for a while, as fate would have it—about their reputations, or even their jobs. But only for a while, a short while.
Erik Timbol may have had a smaller worry, but his “what if” resonates just as much as those of the people who didn’t go to work—or who, for what other reasons, weren’t in the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. on 11 September 2001.
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| Erin Michelle Ray |
He often joined Erin Michelle Ray—one of Nevada’s top triathletes—for a ride. He’d planned on doing that, along with four other friends, last Thursday. But he had to work a shift at Las Vegas Cyclery.
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| Thomas Chamberlin Trauger |
Ms. Ray went for that ride, along with fellow Las Vegas residents Gerard Suarez Nieva, Michael Todd Murray, Aksoy Ahmet and Thomas Chamberlin Trauger.
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| Michael Todd Murray |
They will not ride with Mr. Timbol—or anyone else, or by themselves—again. A truck struck and killed them.
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| Gerard Suarez Nieva |
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| Aksoy Ahmet |
The crash was ruled an accident. Erik Timbol, however, was saved by fate-or a schedule-making decision. In any event, I am sure he is grieving the loss of his training partners and friends: Erin Michelle Ray, Gerard Suarez Nieva, Michael Todd Murray, Akhsoy Ahmet and Thomas Chamberlin Trauger.
a dire tragedy... cars are going faster now than ever, i've noticed in the last few years, and many drivers seem possessed of a pugnacious attitude. i try to stay off highways altogether, the freeways and high speed roads in particular: way too dangerous... major projects need to be approved to improve bicycle safety...
ReplyDeleteMudpuddle--I agree with everything you say. It's been a while since I've been in Nevada, but if it's anything like I remember, those cyclists were on the highway because there wasn't another route they could have taken. In auto-centric areas of the South and West, highways are often the only available roads.
ReplyDeleteThe last news i saw, from Patrick O'Grady's blog, the driver of that panel truck has been charged; i don't think that qualifies as an "accident" -5 counts of DUI resulting in death.
ReplyDeletehttps://maddogmedia.com/2020/12/16/how-revisited/
Out west, cyclists are allowed to ride on the shoulder of the interstates in areas where there is no other route. The shoulders are wide & cyclists a fairly common sight.
Mike--Thanks for the update. I might write a follow-up: My post was based on the information at the time I wrote it.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point about cyclists on Interstates: I myself recall riding on the shoulder of one in Nevada years ago.