Write up by John Lord

Yesterday, Denos Wonder Wheels were represented at the Merrill Cassell Memorial service in White Plains by riders Brian Rafferty, Esteban Fernandez, Titus Leung, Lewis Runnion, & John Lord. Tom Luzio met us at the site with coffee after driving up from his spin class in the Bronx.
It was a moving ceremony. Merrill would have been 67 yesterday. He was killed a month ago, on November 6th, when he was sideswiped by a Westchester County bus. His wife, daughter and grandchildren were there along with many local bike advocates and friends of Merrill’s.
Merrill was a great advocate for bicycle use and public awareness of the hazards cyclists face on the roads. Two other attendees, State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins & Assemblywoman Amy Paulin will be sponsoring a bill in their respective houses in the state Legislature that calls for a law that would require motorists to give cyclists a three-foot buffer when they pass. There are 14 states with similar laws.
I am so glad we attended. We were the only club that rode as a team to be at the service. WW water bottles and other bike mementos were left as offerings around the "ghost bike" that was installed at the site.