Fifty Plus (50+) - Have a good weekend but:

Remember that Memorial Day is the 111 Anniversary of the first recorded automobile accident......................................a collision between a car and a bicycle. :eek:

Do I look worried? Yes I will be out on the bike for a ride,,,,and yes I will be watching. You never know when some one in a three ton quadrawheel machine will get in your way or you in their way.... ... .. .peace

Gee, thanks for the reminder.;)

Well, fancy that... maybe another reason to stick close to home this weekend
Then, most accidents occur with 25 miles of home, no?
Maybe a good reason to get out of Dodge. But that's still within 25 miles of somebody's home.

Having spent time in Texas it came to my surprise in 1980 that the state did not celebrate Memorial Day. I told my boss I would see him Tuesday and he said come to my office you need a history lesson. Texas and many of the Southern Civil War states did not honor Memorial Day until recently. The holiday was originally set up to honor the Union dead from the Civil War!

Hope they are over it by now and enjoy the holiday.

The accident took place in New York City on Memorial Day-or as they called it then, Decoration Day-on May 30, 1896, when motorist Henry Wells lost control of his Duryea Motor Wagon and collided with cyclist Evylyn Thomas, knocking her off her Columbia bicycle into the street, where she lay unconscious, her leg broken. It's unclear from the historical record what the outcome of the collision was; Wells' automobile was one of six cars taking part in an automobile race from New York to Irvington and back, and New Yorkers were seeing these odd new "horseless carriages" for the first time that day.

This information was posted in Velonews under the heading of "legally speaking". History can be fascinating and surprising sometimes.

First recorded in the US but 1896 is more noted in the UK for the year when you did not have to have a man walking in front of your horseless carriage carrying a red Flag to limit it to 4mph. The speed limit then doubled to 8 mph, but the scourge of motorists then came with speed traps.

Two policemen would then set out a measured distance and When the car passed the first officer- He would signal to the second who had a watch with a second hand. He would then time the carriage over the measured distance and if you were speeding- You were knicked.

To commemorate the repealing of the red flag act- a Run from organised from London To Brighton and that Vintage and Veteran car rally still runs to this day.

Recently I've had enough accidents WITHOUT cars being involved :rolleyes: . If it's all the same to you, I'll pass on the opportunity and ride some trails with additional crash equipment. I'm thinking of maybe attaching a NASCAR roll cage.

I'm riding a century with about 600 of my closest friends. The route typically has no more than 3 - 4 moving cars on it. Love rural California.