|
Saying goodbye hurts
By Cyndi Wright, Managing Editor
In the last few weeks we have lost two men - both bikers and both of them men who made the world around them a better place.
It's easy enough to ask when senseless death occurs to the good guys, "why not take the bad guys instead?" I cannot answer that.
The good guys often are the ones who strive to make a positive impact during their time here and push others around them to contribute, too. Sometimes, often times, they are the same people who push the personal envelope.
And sometimes that has disastrous consequences.
Everything I have read and heard about Stan Oldak, what they call a pedacyclist (one who rides a bicycle), indicates that this was a man who was beloved the world over. Definitely one of the good guys.
I knew Larry Kay, a motorcyclist, and he was one of the good guys.
Both of these men were killed while participating in the sport of their choice. Both were killed by coming into contact with a vehicle.
Everyone knows that if you put a bicycle or a motorcycle up against a car or truck, the bike is going to be the loser.
Everyone who rides a two-wheel form of transport learns very early on to ride as if every four-wheeled vehicle on the street with them is going to hit them.
It is how you try to stay safe.
I ride a motorcycle. In fact, one of my fondest memories of Larry Kay is when I was first learning to ride my Yamaha. Backing that bike up to the curb, so that it sits in a very tight line with all of the other bikes is one of my greatest challenges. One Sunday morning in Fayetteville I was trying very hard to back my bike into the curb and it just so happens that it was right next to Larry Kay and he sat on his bike the whole time I was doing this. My whole concentration was on getting it right. I had the clutch pulled in and I totally forgot that the bike was in first gear. As I eased it into that tight little spot on the curb with bikes and bikers all around me, I let out a sigh of relief and let out the clutch.
Pop! The bike acted like a spooked horse and gave a forward jump.
I was completely mortified.
But Larry just gave a laugh and said something like "watch that first gear!"
It made me feel a lot better. What he was saying was, hey, you are one of us and everybody does it, so don't worry. Just get back on and keep trying!
All of our memories of Larry bring a smile.
One Sunday a few weeks ago, an elderly lady returning home from church did the same thing she has probably done every Sunday for the last 60 years. She turned left into her driveway.
And she ran into Larry on his motorcycle.
Like all of us, Larry knew that there was a chance this would happen. He still chose to ride his motorcycle around the hills and curves of this beautiful part of Texas. When he came around the bend in that road he was going pretty fast. Larry liked to ride fast.
As a randonneur, Stan Oldak rode his bicycle in many places that you would not normally see a bicycle.
Randonneuring is long-distance unsupported endurance cycling. This style of riding is non-competitive in nature, and self-sufficiency is paramount. When riders participate in randonneuring events, they are part of a long tradition that goes back to the beginning of the sport of cycling in France and Italy. Friendly camaraderie, not competition, is the hallmark of randonneuring.
Here is what people who knew Stan say about him:
"Where do you begin to describe someone like Stan? He was New York Cycle Club president, C Ride Coordinator, B Ride Coordinator, Escape New York Chair, Youth Program Chair, leader of countless NYCC rides and so much more. Stan truly embodied the very best spirit of volunteerism. But there was so much more to him even beyond that."
"Stan Oldak, recent NYCC president and my friend since college, was killed by a hit and run pickup truck driver while Stan was doing a brevet qualifying ride in Texas at 2 a.m. Stan was very devoted to the NYCC, and, though a busy dentist, he still found the time to give a great deal of help to the Club, including as president, a club ride leader, and a member of the youth committee. Stan tried to live his life to the fullest, doing things that he loved, including cycling and other athletics, art, traveling, and especially being with friends and family. Stan is survived by his father, sister, ex-wife Janice, and two children, Emily and Jason, of whom he was so proud and talked about very often."
As with Larry riding fast, Stan was taking a chance by riding his bicycle in the dark along a narrow, two-lane, backwoods Texas highway at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning.
We all wish that it would be perfectly safe to ride fast and ride whenever we like, wherever we like. We all know that it is not so.
The people on the roads at 2 a.m. Sunday morning are largely law enforcement and people who have been partying and are returning home after the bar has closed.
It is not a safe environment for anyone.
Someone driving a pickup truck ran into Stan from behind and he was killed instantly. According to DPS reports, we don't know much more than that.
A bike club, Team ACME based out of Katy, is working with the Houston Randonneurs to host a Ride of Silence in Columbus on May 16, tonight, at 7 p.m. I understand it will leave from Beason's Park, passing by the place where Stan was killed and conclude after 9 miles. Go out and show your support.
Losing people we love really hurts. Senseless accidents seem to make it somehow worse, if that is possible. And when they are the good guys, the world just seems to get a little bit dimmer.
| 
