Hey everyone,
Though he wasn’t affiliated with Back Alley Bikes, I know that Hal Williams was known at The Hub of Detroit and with many riders in the city. So I’m sorry I have to share the bad news of his murder. There is an article over at Mode Shift talking about why he was so well known.
I personally didn’t know Hal, but from reading about him I can take away from his story that I need to ride more, be alive and enjoy life. Take care of each other out there. This includes folks that drive automobiles. Sometimes accidents happen, but you have to stop and call for help. Hit and runs are the worst.
This news comes after hearing about one of my friends from high school being murdered in Florida by a hit and run and last week’s story about an 8 year old getting dragged to death behind a car on the city’s west side.
I don’t share these stories because I want to scare folks. Getting a set of lights and a helmet aren’t bad ideas, but I don’t think that is the point of these stories either. The point is that we live in a country built for automobiles and these folks weren’t willing to let that stop them from riding. So why should we? I drive sometimes and am a passenger in an automobile fairly regularly. Every time I fear that I’m going to die in a car crash. As morbid as it is, if I had the choice, I would much rather die on my bicycle than inside a car.
So remember these folks because despite what the comments on the websites say, they aren’t crazy or stupid. They are like us and just wanted to ride. They wanted the simple pleasure of spinning those cranks and feeling a little wind in their hair while enjoying being outside and alive. Or maybe they just had somewhere to go and didn’t have access to any other transportation. Either way, that doesn’t seem all that crazy or stupid to me. It is downright genius.