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This morning at 10 a.m. at Niagara and 22nd Street, there will be a brief Memorial Service in honor of Yolonda Yvette Carr who was the victim of a homicide Monday as she rode her bike and was struck by a motorist who fled the scene.
Carr was riding an e-assist bike but that makes her life no less valuable and her loss no less tragic. All bikes, and lives matter.
As someone who pedals around Niagara Falls all the time, I can tell you motorists are decidedly unfriendly. At least once a week I get honked at or yelled at.
“Get on the sidewalk,” they say. “Keep right.”
I holler right back. “Obey the law, share the road.”
Yolonda will never again holler that way, if she ever did.
I biked on Ferry, and Walnut, before they were wisely reconstructed by the state. Both are better now, but still, I have suffered the horns of angry people who don’t understand a bike lane.
I will ride this morning and think about Yolanda.
Here’s a bike event to put on your calendar. For the first time, the State will be shutting down the North Grand Island Bridge for a bike ride on Sunday, Sept. 22.
I have pedaled across the Grand Island Bridges. The signs say please walk your bike but no one does. Going downhill is tough because like heading into Lewiston past Fort Grey, speed is easy. Stopping? Not so much.
You can register to participate here.
