How do we file events in our minds and move on?  Yesterday Jordan Rapp aka RappStar was struck by a vehicle while riding his bike and the driver took off.  I always want to give people the benefit of the doubt.  It very well could have been an accident.  We have all made mistakes, and lucky for us, most of our mistakes haven’t injured or killed anyone.  Knowing what I know about road biking and some driver’s responses to road bikers it could very well have not been an accident.  I have no idea happened with Jordan, but fleeing from the scene, well that is not accident and there is no explanation or excuse that will ever make that OK.  Stop and take care of the situation.  Don’t just leave another human being, spandex clad or not, lying on the ground to die.  Period.  Take responsibility for the mistake.  Taking responsibility for our mistakes makes us more humane and maybe it allows the person injured the opportunity to file the accident in their mind and move on with forgiveness in their heart.   I can only imagine the person who hit Jordan is probably scared shitless.  I would be, but the person should have stopped. That is the real crime.  My heart and thoughts go out to Jordan’s wife and family and wish them strength through this difficult and confusing time.  I have met Jordan twice in my life and both times he has been kind, humble and helpful and my impression of him is that he is a true ambassador of our sport.  Jordan is on his way to being one of the greats in triathlon history.  I hope he has a speedy, full recovery and can get back out there and be everything he is capable of being.

This week I am in Austin TX visiting my sister and it so happens that my good girlie friend Chelsea lives here too.   We were sitting at Genuine Joe’s Cafe catching up this morning and Jordan’s accident came up.  We don’t know for sure what the consequences of hitting a cyclist are, accident or not, but we agreed that stopping, taking care of the injured, and facing the consequences was the only decision.  After a long catching up session we got in her car and headed home along I-35 in Austin Texas.  As we were driving South a guy went running across the Northbound lane in front of a semi and got hit.  Right in front of us.  I watched a man die.   The semi stopped.  All the way back to my sister’s I felt sick to my stomach.  I saw this guy run out in front of the semi.  There was no maneuver the driver could have made to miss this person.  Nothing.  How do I file this event?  How do I put it away and stop seeing the picture in my mind? I took my shower and couldn’t help but think of the poor driver of the truck.  What if no one saw the accident from my perspective?  What if the police thought the driver could have done something differently?  I am unable to file this incident in my mind and move on for the day.  The right thing to do was to call the police and at least tell what I saw.  I am not dramatic and believe me, I don’t like to be involved in drama and do most anything to avoid it.  But I couldn’t help think of this driver and how he must be feeling and I at least wanted to share what I saw to make a more complete version of the story for the police.

I am unsure how to file these events in my mind.   What am I supossed to do with this experience?  Live my life more fully?  Appreciate what I have more?  All the twitter stuff going on about people’s workouts, saying their waitress at dinner last night was incompentent, where people are, what they have, what they don’t have all seems so inconsequential to me right now.  I am a part of that too and it makes me wonder about myself.  What are we really?  Runners?  Triathletes?  Moms or Dads?  Attorneys?  Engineers? Unemployed?  Christian?  Not Christian?  Ultimately we are all human beings.  I wish to embrace my humaness and not connect myself with what I do as who I am but to reach out and connect with others in an intimate more humane way.  Maybe wishing for more for other people I can file tragedy and be settled and calm.  I wish health for Jordan, strength for his wife, compassion for the person who hit Jordan, peace for the truck driver, peace for the man who died today and for his family.

Jordan’s Accident Report

Jordan Recovery Report 3.25.09

Austin Fatality

Great Story-Cyclists and Drivers