Mood:
accident proneTopic: Writing
Last night, I got the opportunity to spend some time with the LSU cycling club. To say they are an interesting bunch would be a severe understatement—I might even say they are just a little bad ass.
In May, a member of the club was involved in a hit-and-run accident on a road designated for bike training. The member, and LSU graduate student, was hit during his morning ride, and thrown into a ditch, where he was left for fellow cyclists to find him minutes later.
As a team, the members sat with his family in the hospital, awaiting answers—he suffered life-threatening injuries and needed blood. But he lived. Something the club didn't think would happen.
Days after the accident, local police found the vehicle they were looking for. However, the owner of the vehicle wasn't driving his car that morning. Thankfully, the guilty party surrendered—the manager of a popular restaurant right off campus.
In the meantime, the cycling club threw together a benefit and a blood drive for their friend, resulting in $5600 toward his medical bills and 125 units of blood in his name—an amount the local blood center had never seen from one group.
While the team has gone through its ups and downs in terms of membership, they are on a high right now with 35 members, 15 of which are active competitors.
Although the club members are certainly a jovial bunch, it seems they are always warding off a stigma. They are pushing for people to know that they simply love riding bikes. They don't compete all the time, they are in the club mainly for social reasons, and they will follow the rules of the road as long as motorists do, too.
When we met last night for our photo shoot, I was surprised to see just how close all of them are. And they are a diverse group at that; breaking the cyclist stereotype left and right.
For the shoot, the photographer and I designed a route that would be the most scenic—around the lakes, through campus, and back to the road where the accident occurred. With the photographer in the back of my car, I had 10 cyclists following me at 10 miles an hour. From the outside, I'm sure it looked silly, but what came of it was amazing—photos that capture a team who loves to ride, while being among friends.
It's been awhile since I've written a feature for LSU, and I'm glad I could come out of the gate with one about a dynamic group of students.
To the LSU cyclists, thank you for reminding me why I love to write. I promise to always leave you three feet of space on the road.
