Speaking of Norm Hoffman...

I think of this all the time when I'm on the road with lots of cars.

When I first started biking years ago, 1993, I joined the American Cancer Society's charity ride that covered 150 miles over 3 days on the coast. The "Lung Ride" it was called. (There were two older guys, cranky, funny, great cyclists who went every year and drank beer for breakfast and SMOKED the whole time. No one cared cause they raised lots of money to keep other people from smoking...)

Anyway, they had training rides for us newbies. I always ended up riding with this other lady, a mom and teacher trying to get back into shape. We were about the same speed and we had good conversations. (I'll look up the old story and get her name)

I had to skip one training ride on Highway 155, otherwise I would have been right with her.

Some crazed punk, hungover and half whacked on meth as it turned out, came barrelling up on the group in his van or pick up and thought it would be funny to get close to the riders. He got close all right. He smacked right into her...ON PURPOSE. Then he took off.

The caught him and he was prosecuted. Great, whatever.

The lady had some head injuries and more broken bones than you could count, including her pelvis and both legs in several places. Almost a year later, I went to her house, doing a follow up story. She was still a mess. Worse...she was really angry, bitter. And she wasn't like that before. It was really devastating for her and her family.

And I would have been right there with her. It could have been me.