This year for the first time I participated in the Ride for Your Life, an event that is tied to World Remembrance Day for Traffic Victims. The purpose of the ride is to remember those who have been killed in our area while using our roads. The motivating force behind the event is Dan Langenkamp. Last year Dan’s wife Sarah was run over by a flatbed truck and killed in Bethesda, Maryland while riding home from a daytime event at her sons’ school.
The 17-mile ride connected the dots between five ghost bikes. Traffic safety advocates place these bikes painted white at the sites where people have been killed. They are grim reminders that road users need to be mindful of vulnerable road users.
After Dan and others gave some speeches, several hundred riders headed down Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda. Within a half mile we passed the ghost bike of Enzo Alvarenga who was 19 when her was killed in 2022. His family stood around the bike and his grieving mother said “Thank you” through her tears as we rode past.
We crossed the road and soon passed another ghost bike, that of 17-year-old Jake Cassell who was killed three years ago. (The four-lane highway now has protected bike lanes on either side, evidence that our civic leaders often wait until it’s too late to make simple safety modifications.)
After a meander through some neighborhood streets, we took the Capital Crescent Trail to Georgetown. Along the way we rode on a bridge over River Road. Down below was Sarah’s ghost bike.
The group proceeded cautiously, mostly in single file, as they passed dozens of weekend trail users enjoying the sunny 50-degree weather. We stopped at Georgetown Waterfront Park to regroup then proceeded across downtown DC past the fourth ghost bike, that of Nijad Huseynov, a 23-year-old graduate student from Azebaijan. After crossing into the Northeast quadrant of the city, we ended up in the seemingly serene residential neighborhood of Brookland. If you didn’t know better, you’d swear you were in a small town. Lovely little single-family houses along two-lane streets with sidewalks. Each intersection seemed to have four stop signs and crosswalks. It was in a crosswalk at 14th and Irving Streets Northeast where five-year-old Allie Hart was killed by the driver of a passenger van . The van, like so many others in the area, drove through a stop sign. The intersection is next to Allie’s school where she had been attending kindergarten.
There were more speeches. Allie’s mother told us of her dashed dreams for her daughter. I looked around and saw tears in the eyes of the people in the crowd. Christy Kwan of DC Families for Safe Streets spoke about how her organization, here and with chapters all over the country, works to advocate for the cause.
Dan and one of his sons stood near the bike. His son, perhaps ten years old, had ridden the entire route. He sported a red motocross helmet and cool reflective son glasses. He reminded me of my own son who, at about the same age, proudly rode his bike in an event through the streets of Baltimore so many years ago.
I left the ride and headed back up to North Bethesda to get my car. (The start was over 30-miles from home so riding there would have been quite a slog on a cold morning.) My route took me across DC to Rock Creek Park. Once on Beach Drive I traveled about ten miles, nearly car-free. The cool breeze and the low-angled sunlight made for a meditative ride.
We all know someone who has been hit by a car. The lucky ones, we (my wife, Charmaine, Rachel, Jeff, Nelle, Kate, and me, to name but a few) survive. Others like Dave and Lorena aren’t so fortunate.
Thanks to the organizers and ride leader Peter Gray of the Washington Area Bicyclists Association and Montgomery Country Families for Safe Streets for staging this event. Thanks also to Jeanne, Shira, Monica, and Leslie for their company throughout the day. Special thanks to Annette who rode with me and whose online message nudged me into participating.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
You can add me to the list of those who have been hit. Fortunately for me I was unhurt (but hopping mad, as you’d expect) and the only damage to my bike was a strashed back wheel- easily enough replaced at the driver’s expense.
Never, EVER, trust a motorist until you’ve either made eye contact or seen a clear indication of their intentions. A car with its turn signal flashing as it approaches an intersection may well be operated by someone whose attention is elsewhere and who forgot to cancel a previous signal. Don’t believe it until you see the car slow, stop, or actually begin the process of making the indicated turn.
You too! I also forgot Ricki.
Thanks for naming these people, as well as riding. I rode through an intersection this morning. It has had a ghost bike for more than a decade, and the ghost bike apparently has been struck by cars multiple times, based on the damage to it. The current ghost bike is for David Nieft. I don’t think he was the first person to be killed at that spot, but I can’t find an earlier name. That intersection just became a 4-way stop.
Glad to be alive after the driver hit me from behind, as he went thru a red light. 😦
Wow. Thanks for including one of the ghost bike photos for an idea of what this was like. How incredibly sad. So many young lives lost. This is a great idea for a ride, continuing to bring light to this ongoing problem. As well as honoring those who lost their lives and their families.
It’s unfortunate, but this is predominately why I don’t ride my bike much since moving back to the states. It’s just not safe. I’m only 25 minutes (by bike) from work, and yet I don’t commute. The roads I would have to cross are so busy and people are so aloof that it’s just not worth it.
It may not be as dangerous as you think but only you can be the judge. I was nearly clobbered a couple of times. I crossed the highway ramp near my office against a red light. I was so drowsy that I completely forgot to stop. Luckily the cars did.
Anything can happen with drivers. They can be drowsy, vision impaired, on their cell phones, scolding a kid in the back seat, etc.
The first two ghost bikes were attributable to bad road design which has since been addressed much to the consternation of car commuters. Delay me?! How dare you! High speed multi-lane commuter routes in the suburbs are the worst.
Allie’s and Sarah’s death were from driver error. The penalties for the drivers were slaps on the wrist. The families of the victims get a life-long sentence of grief.
In any case, stay safe. I need your morning confessions to get me through each month.
Wow! Wonderful way to memorialise this people and to support their families. A very sobering day I’m sure but an important one ♥