THEY WERE FREEZING, BUT THEY RODE
The 2007 Josie Johnson Memorial Ride was a test of devotion from cyclists to cyclists. The day was cloudy from dawn, but speakers spoke as the air rapidly cooled. By the 10:30 time the ride was scheduled to start from Sugarhouse Park, a cold drizzle had started. The wind was in the riders faces as they took off.
While the ride was first organized to honor Josie Johnson, who was carelessly struck by a driver in Big Cottonwood Canyon and thrown 100 feet to her death, it has taken on a wider meaning to the growing bicycle community. It is now an event in which all cyclists injured or killed by motorists so far that year are commemorated during the ride.
This year, in a tragic coincidence, two cyclists were killed a few weeks prior to the ride; just as two others were killed in the same time frame in 2006. In both years, one death was totally the cyclist's fault. It helps to remember that traffic rules apply to pedal powered vehicles as well as motor powered ones.
Of this year's ride, Josie's father Richard, said, "It was well planned. We put up signs and barricades with my son Ken Johnson. We were expecting rain, there was a hole in the sky when it was time for the ride to start. (former Salt Lake city Mayor) Ted Wilson was there, so was Holly Mullen (his wife and editor of City Weekly), then it started to rain, so the ride got launched."
The wind and freezing rain caused a lot of riders to hit the many sag wagons. The rain turned to white sleet, that hit jackets and faces and instantly melted.
At the Mill Hollow Park destination, Richard says, "There was an acknowledgement of people who had been killed this year, a moment of silence for those people. It was raining hard, so many of the group gathered under a little tent, some were a little distressed because of the cold weather. Some went into the rest rooms to warm themselves with the air dryers."
Those who had ridden with ungloved hands were close to frostbite, and there were some yelps as the hot air heaters made hands tingle with sharp pins-and-needles.
One rider summed up the 2007 event by saying, "Yes, I'm cold and wet and horribly uncomfortable, I didn't want to come when I saw the clouds this morning. Then I realized, I can come here and ride, and I must do that for those who no longer have that choice."