I am writing to express the great frustration and concern I have with the recent bike road relay from Carcross Corner, Jakes Corner to Carcross route on the weekend.
My family and I set out on a nice road trip on our street bikes on Saturday morning only to find we were fighting to avoid a collision with pedal bikers all over the road for most of our trip.
I’ve lived in Whitehorse my whole life and I have completely lost my tolerance for these pedal bikers that think it’s OK to be all over the road, constantly putting the lives of other people at risk, including themselves.
Several times I watched vehicles in front of me swerve to miss as many as six bikers in the middle of the lane, almost causing an accident. There are no shoulders on the road between Jakes Corner and Carcross. I could not even get up to the speed limit in most places as I was constantly having to slow down to as slow as 30 kilometres an hour to avoid a nasty road collision.
With pedal bikers riding right in the middle of the lane, traffic was funnelled into the centre. I watched as two of my family members were almost hit by oncoming traffic.
I don’t know who is running this outfit, but they better give their heads a shake.
If you are going to organize a road relay down a section of highway with no shoulders, you have to have safety measures in place to avoid accidents.
I am completely frustrated and have no more tolerance for these bikers that think it’s OK to ride on the roads, where a vehicle cannot slow down in time, and we are forced to try and pass at that last minute to avoid a collision.
There is no way you can stop in time, even driving under the speed limit.
So, if you are a road relay enthusiast, please take the time to ride responsibly and realize vehicles cannot slow down in time for you, and you are forcing us out into oncoming traffic.
You are putting yourselves, and everyone present, in danger every time you cross that white line. You cannot expect a tractor trailer rig to slow down for you.
I watched a rig swerve into the oncoming lane this weekend around Marsh Lake and almost hit people. It was disgusting, and what was even worse, the support teams were driving slow and congesting traffic as well.
I know of many, many people who support me on this particular issue and we have no more tolerance for this stupidity.
Rita Smith
Whitehorse