Another cycling death

[peewee]

Did any of you North MS guys know this young fellow. Prayers sent for his family. It sad for me to think about folks on this website that adimatly admit to trying to tag cyclist. Also remember it was our MS legislators that would not pass a law this year to give cyclist 3' while passing along with several other saftey precations on the cyclists end. MS congressional black caucas said all it would do would have cops riding around in neighborhoods writing tickets.

AP

John Paul Frerer would have started his senior year at Tupelo High
School on Friday, but the Eagle Scout and triathlete died a day
earlier while riding his bike.

Frerer, 18, was training for a race scheduled for today. He was riding
his bike from Tupelo to Oxford when he was struck by a 1993 Chevrolet
pickup driven by David McDonald of Tupelo shortly after 8 a.m.,
Mississippi Highway Safety Patrolman Leslie White said.

Both were headed west on Mississippi 6 near the Thaxton community in
Pontotoc County. The accident is still under investigation.

Frerer was planning on riding his bike 120 miles Thursday in
preparation for the race, Lafayette County Coroner Lonnie Weaver said,
quoting family members.

Frerer was taken to the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford, where he
was pronounced dead at 9:47 a.m.

"The whole cycling community is devastated," said Mark Bresee, a
cyclist and triathlete who had ridden with Frerer. "He had really
found his niche and was really getting into it. We're all just sick
about this."

Frerer competed in last Saturday's King of the Hill Triathlon at
Tombigbee State Park and was a member of the winning relay team in
that event, along with fellow Tupelo High seniors Hannah Wilson, a
swimmer, and Max Holman, a runner.

"I've been riding in some races, but I'm not as serious as Hannah and
Max" about their sports, Frerer said in an interview with the
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal on Saturday. "We're hoping to get
a (triathlon) team going at the high school."

Frerer, the son of Jim and Liria Frerer, also was an Eagle Scout and
had been a member of Tupelo High's Wave Connection show choir.

School officials said counseling would be available for anyone who wanted it.

The funeral will be Sunday at 4 p.m. at St. James Catholic Church,
with visitation from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. today at the church.

[rustypjr]

Prayers sent for the family.

Cycling is dangerous, but a lot vehicles just see how close they can get. Got to where you could not ride around here on any good roads. Had to ride backroads. Finally just sold my bike.

[stitch]

Very sad.......but I just don't understand why anyone would have a bicycle on that stretch of raod....he might as well have been on I-55. Help me understand that.....

[Seymore]

He was in my daugher's senior class. School started last Friday and a lot of the seniors rode bikes to the High School in the annual Senior parade.

The Senior Parade is when all the Seniors meet up at a church up the road from the High School and all ride up to the school as one class the first day of school honking horns and generally cutting up. A couple tossed some water balloons and some the uppity Moms got pissed their Beemers got hit with a balloon. May not have it next year.

[Deadeye]

I wonder if the driver that struck him was on a cell phone or texting? Totally senseless...

[JMallard]

very tough deal. my wife teaches at the high school and says the kid was just a wonderful person. the catholic church where the service was held was completley packed with people outside listening on speakers. the talk in our sunday school class was the guy that hit him is not doing well at all. prayers for him as well.

[ltDangle]

Very sad.

It is really upsetting to think that we have folks on this list that were talking about trying to hit cyclist.

Very very sad.

If you ride please be safe.

[72broncojp]

Deadeye, the man who hit John Paul is elderly gentleman who probably doesn't even own a cell phone, much less know how to text. This man has been absolutely devastated by what has happened and is having a real hard time dealing with it. This was a tragic accident, with both sides having hard times copeing with it. They all need our prayers.

[tbost]

JP was in our bike club here in Tupelo. It was a very tragic accident for all involved so please keep the Frerer family and the man that hit him in your prayers. He was one of the nicest kids that you would ever meet. This Tuesday on our weekly bike ride his parents and brother and sister joined us. We had a great turn out and it meant alot to the Frerer's. There was probably about 40 of us and we rode downtown and people were amazed at how many of us there is in town. The Frerer's along with a group from the club and Bike Walk Mississippi are going to Jackson to talk about the 3 Feet legislation on Tuesday. It is still being debated so you can email your Sen. and Rep. to let them know that you support 3 Feet.

[peewee]

tbost thats good to know that they are going to talk to them on Tues. They need to get on the Jackson Metro Cyclist board and find Rich Adair. Rich has been trying to get things through the legislature, he would be a great addition to the group in my opinion.

My state senator actually rides with us a fairly good bit which is a good thing, I will have to contact my local representative and tell him how I feel.

[GrizwalD]

prayers sent.....

This is totally off the main topic here and im not trying to piss in anyones cheerios or anything but sometimes i see cyclist riding down roads and im thinking now why in the hell are you riding down this road of all the roads around that dont have a chit load of traffic, and not to mention some of them will NOT get out of the middle of the lane. I have respect for cyclist, but some cyclist have a problem with having respect for motorist.

[ChrisV]

i feel for his family but cyclist really need to get a grip and an understanding that they dont belong there.

[Po Monkey Lounger]

I'm sorry, but from a safey standpoint, a heavily traveled, four lane highway is simply no place to be riding a bicycle. The vehicular traffic is traveling at legal speeds of 65 mph (and upwards over the speed limit), and a bicycle is traveling much slower. Add in hills and poor visibility at certain times of day or in certain weather, and you have the recipe for disaster.

I travel the Natchez Trace every day, and there are many cyclists on it. I watch for them, and still have trouble seeing them from time to time. The worst is those freaking tricycle type bikes, which are very low to the ground --- they are almost impossible to see until you get right up on them. Anyone riding one of these things on any road is an idiot. A while back, I was approaching a slow moving vehicle on the Trace, when it suddenly veered into the other lane to pass something. The "something" was one of those tricycle bikes, which was so low to the ground I could not see it in front of the car ---- until the car veered into the other lane to pass. Suddenly, there the trike was in front of me. I barely was able to get stopped by slamming on my brakes. Scared me to death. I am fortunate that no one was behind me. I could have been killed, and the tricycle guy as well. I was so pissed at that idiot, I would have loved to have jap slapped his booty for almost killing himself, and involving me in such an accident ....almost. These folks have no idea how irritating they are to the rest of us, when they put themselves in such situations where they cannot be easily seen.

I would never, ever, intentionally try to get close to, scare, bump, etc. any cyclist on the road. I try to show them the utmost respect and keep a safe distance away. But, you can be vigilant and watching carefully, and still sometimes not see these cyclists. Why anyone would put themselves in such danger is hard for me to understand. Someone explain it to me. How many more have to die before it occurs to these folks that this is simply not a safe thing to be doing?

[tbost]

The Frerer's are starting a fund to help educate cyclist and motorist. It is definitely a two way street and both have a responsibility to safety. The fact of the matter is that we are going to ride and obviously the cars are going to drive. There has to be a happy medium somewhere and not just have non-cyclist saying we shouldn't be out there. That way of thinking is just down right rediculous. I know that it upsets people to slow down and wait a minute out of there day to safely go around us, but come on. We use back roads here the majority of the time and try to stay out of the way of as many cars as possible. It is just like anything else where maybe a few give the rest a bad name; I can't speak of the cyclist in each of your areas, only mine. JP's accident was a terrible accident for all involved and will never be forgotten by us that new him and rode with him weekly and hopefully it will not be in vain. If TN and LA can pass a three foot law then surely MS can. The 3 foot law also pertains to runners and walkers.
Everyone should also remember the miles that you put on a bike when you were younger and just riding around town. We had a guy that was hit by the golf course about a year ago and had both legs broken among other injuries. That could have been anyone's son or brother, daughter or sister, or any family member.
The important thing to remember is that we are not doing anything to upset anybody. We just want to ride and be safe just like we all did when we were kids. Now we just do it to stay in shape and enjoy ourselves. We all have the responsibilty of being safe and watching out for our fellow man while on the road. The whole argument that we shouldn't be there makes absolutely no sense. We pay taxes just like everyone else and have the same rights as everyone else. I completely understand that unfortunately some roads are not safe for us to use and we respect that. But to say that we shouldn't ride; let's all try to progress to the point that we realize that is insane.

[tbost]

Peewee
One of our guys is going up there monday to ride with the Jackson Metro club and then go out to eat. If you are riding Monday be sure to meet Chris and talk with him. The Jackson Metro Club will also be meeting on Tuesday with the Senate Highway and Transportation committee with the guys from Tupelo. If you are ever in our area, bring your bike and we would love for you to join us.