Pedley's Ponderings

My good friend, Brenden, is an avid cyclist. He races bikes professionally all over the country and has done so for the better part of the last decade. He’s good at pushing pedals.

All that success comes from extensive training, both indoors and outdoors. When the ground isn’t covered in snow, he spends countless hours each year traversing highways and byways here in the Hawkeye State to build his strength and stamina.

I’ve always said his affection for cycling will kill him. Not from over exhaustion or a bad crash, but from some stupid driver not paying attention to the road.

Last week, my fear almost came true.

Brenden was back home visiting his parents in Montrose, a small town located on the Mississippi River in southeast Iowa. As is the norm, he took his bike out for a spin – this route would bring him to the Illinois side of the river for a portion of the ride.

During that stretch, he heard a vehicle approaching from behind while climbing a hill. He looked back at the blue truck, which he thinks might have been an F-150. Brenden never heard any rumble strips buzz, either, meaning the driver never crossed the center line to safely pass him.

He quickly looked back again to see the truck now 15 yards away and gaining fast. Brenden threw his bike to the right, but simultaneously felt a hard smack to his left shoulder area. He then saw the passenger side mirror explode “into a million [expletive] pieces,” while his left hand dragged across the truck’s passenger door.

Despite sustaining noticeable body damage to his truck after hitting a 6’ tall human being on bicycle, the driver did not stop.

“I got off my bike and kind of stood around for a few minutes waiting for somebody else to drive by, or for something to start hurting, or to lay down and die, or realize I was already dead,” he wrote in a text to our group chat. “But none of those things happened. And then I thought maybe I should call the cops, but what was the point? I was fine, and I didn’t get the plate. The sun was going down, so I decided to ride home.”

I’m extremely thankful my friend is still alive, but equal parts enraged at the lack of humanity showcased by the piece of trash driving the truck. Whether they were drunk, tweaked out, staring at their phone, dozing off or something else, they knowingly collided with a person and kept driving. The type of person who does that isn’t someone I want to meet.

This is an obvious reminder to pay attention when you’re driving and share the road. Other people are using it, whether they’re in a car, on a motorcycle or pedaling a bike.

Morbidly, I told Brenden that he lived to die another day. I hope there are a million days between now and when his number’s called, but with people like the driver of the blue truck on the road, who’s to say?

Pay attention when you’re driving. And if you happen to be on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River between Nauvoo and Hamilton, be on the look out for a blue truck without a passenger-side mirror.

Nick Pedley is the news editor and ad manager of The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News.