Fuck Gas

Just as last year, this ride will be a casually paced somber memorial coinciding with the Ghost Bike Memorial Ride taking place in New York. The route will pass by the below locations for an approximate 11 mile loop through the city. The list in no way reflects the actual number of cyclists and pedestrians injured and killed in Louisville every year. Unfortunately we can’t be everywhere and the highlands and downtown areas are likely to get the best turnout for riders and provide some of the safer riding conditions in the city as well as containing a higher concentration of incidents involving motor vehicles with bicyclists or pedestrians.

Meet up: National City Bank on Bardstown Road at Douglas Blvd

Ride approx: 11am

Bicyclist Killed (Lance Livesay)
1529 Bardstown Road

Bicyclist Injured (Mike Purvis)
Bardstown Road at Eastern Parkway

Bicyclist Killed (Reginald “Reg” Smith)
Grinstead Drive at Cherokee Parkway

Bicyclist Killed (Karola Steed)
Lexington Avenue at Grinstead Drive

Bicyclist Killed (George “Chips” Cronen)
Clark Memorial Bridge

Pedestrian Killed (Nuril Papapietro, hit and run)
Baxter Avenue at Rogers Street

Bicyclist Killed (Jen Futrell)
1044 Bardstown Road

If anyone knows of additional accident sites involving cyclists or pedestrians please contact jimmy@fuckgas.org so they can be added to the route.

Wednesday, September 30th 2009 marks one year after Jen Futrell was hit from behind on her bicycle. Jen died in the hospital 5 days later. There will be an event that will honor Jen starting at 4 pm in Tyler park. The Down Home Hospitality Cafe will host a massive potluck. Bring what you can, or just yourself. Groups that Jen would like to have tabling are welcome to come. (please bring your own table.) At 6pm there will be a memorial ride touring the highlands to remember various bicycle accidents to raise awareness about a need for harmony and consciousness on the road. The ride will end at Jen’s ghost bike on Baxter Ave. where there will be a vigil held.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

11 am

Meet at: National City Bank on Bardstown Road at Douglas Blvd

This ride will be a casually paced somber memorial coinciding with the Ghost Bike Memorial Ride taking place in New York. The route will pass by the below locations for an approximate 11 mile loop through the city. The list in no way reflects the actual number of cyclists and pedestrians injured and killed in Louisville every year. Unfortunately we can’t be everywhere and the highlands and downtown areas are likely to get the best turnout for riders and provide some of the safer riding conditions in the city as well as containing a higher concentration of incidents involving motor vehicles with bicyclists or pedestrians.

While riding please keep in mind to stay in the group as there is safety in numbers and we will be moving through intersections with clearance in mind, not traffic signals. As always, stay alert

Bicyclist Killed (Lance Livesay)
1529 Bardstown Road

Bicyclist Injured (Mike Purvis)
Bardstown Road at Eastern Parkway

Bicyclist Killed (Karola Steed)
Lexington Avenue at Grinstead Drive

Bicyclist Killed (George “Chips” Cronen)
Clark Memorial Bridge

Bicyclist Injured (hit and run)
East Broadway

Bicyclist Killed (Jen Futrell)
1044 Bardstown Road

This ride will be a casually paced somber memorial coinciding with the Ghost Bike Memorial Ride taking place in New York. The route will pass by the below locations for an approximate 11 mile loop through the city. The list in no way reflects the actual number of cyclists and pedestrians injured and killed in Louisville every year. Unfortunately we can’t be everywhere and the highlands and downtown areas are likely to get the best turnout for riders and provide some of the safer riding conditions in the city as well as containing a higher concentration of incidents involving motor vehicles with bicyclists or pedestrians.

While riding please keep in mind to stay in the group as there is safety in numbers and we will be moving through intersections with clearance in mind, not traffic signals. As always, stay alert

Meet up: National City Bank on Bardstown Road at Douglas Blvd

Ride approx: 11am

Bicyclist Killed (Lance Livesay)
1529 Bardstown Road

Bicyclist Injured (Mike Purvis)
Bardstown Road at Eastern Parkway

Bicyclist Killed (Karola Steed)
Lexington Avenue at Grinstead Drive

Bicyclist Killed (George “Chips” Cronen)
Clark Memorial Bridge

Bicyclist Injured (hit and run)
East Broadway

Bicyclist Killed (Jen Futrell)
1044 Bardstown Road

If anyone knows of additional accident sites involving cyclists or pedestrians please contact jimmy@fuckgas.org so they can be added to the route.

I am heading out to chain up another Ghost Bike this evening for an accident I should have recognized a while back. I was contacted by the victims sister thru GhostBikes.org as she was understandably upset that her brothers death did not receive the same attention as Jens did last month. This is something I think everyone in the riding community needs to take to heart. It’s a tough situation and being that Jens accident happened in such close proximity to where so many of us ride every day I understand why it gained the attention it did. However, I think everyone needs to step up when these accidents occur, regardless of what area of town it is in, if we are ever going to be taken seriously. Otherwise, we all look like a group of clique-ish assholes.

Back to the Outer Loop - The incident happened a couple months ago along the Outer Loop just outside of Louisville. The Outer Loop is not anything like what you would consider bike friendly with its 4 lanes and 45 mile an hour speed limit with the majority of traffic driving at least 50. The details I have been able to retrieve are as follows. Vance Kokojan was riding in the right lane, where the “law” states he should have been. While being passed by a tractor trailor driving in the left lane an impatient driver darted into the right lane out from behind the truck and struck Vance. As is the case in such incidents, the driver was simply allowed to go about thier day while another family was torn apart.

As I have stated before, jail is not the answer here. This looks to have been another careless accident. Because of the accidental nature I don’t feel locking the driver in a cage for some duration is going to solve anything. While nothing can be done to bring Vance back, I feel financial restitution to the victims family is the best available outcome. From what I have read, this was a man with a family who depended on his financial support and because of the carelessness of this driver a family has had that support stripped from them. I know this can sound cold and impersonal but I sincerely feel it is a legitimate solution.

When you start affecting people’s bank accounts they really start listening and paying attention to their actions. When you drive a car the consequences for your inattentive actions can be deadly. For whatever reason, this is simply not respected in our society.

A Critical Mass has been organized for Friday, Oct. 10 in memory of Jen Futrell.

Jen Futrell was hit by a car while riding southbound on Bardstown Road on Tuesday, Sept. 30. She received life-threatening injuries and was taken off life support a few days later. She died on Saturday, Oct. 4.

Come to Critical Mass on Friday, Oct. 10 to remember Jen and raise awareness of these issues:

– Helmet safety - at her family’s request, PLEASE show up wearing protective gear
– Increased protection for cyclists, including increased funding for cyclist awareness campaigns for drivers and more bike lanes
– Changing the culture of Louisville from car-centric to one that defers to alternative modes of transportation like cycling

We are meeting in the parking lot of Bardstown Road Presbyterian (they are not affiliated with this), biking down to the intersection of Baxter/Bardstown Road, then returning to the parking lot. We will pass the ghost bike, placed where Jen was hit. Her family has been made aware of this action and believes Jen would have supported it. ALL are invited, not just those who knew Jen.

Date: Friday, October 10, 2008
Time: 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Location: 1722 Bardstown Road
(Bardstown Road Presbyterian Church parking lot - where the Farmer’s Market is held)

Unfortunately the Louisville cycling community has experienced another loss.

Jen Futrell’s life will be honored Tonight (10/2)
7:00 pm
Bardstown Rd & Grinstead

Please Attend