FABB encourages NOVA riders to join Dan Langenkamp, WABA, Trek Bicycle Corporation, and People for Bikes for a ride in memory of Sarah Langenkamp.- The ride from Bethesda to the US Capitol Building will press Congress to take action to prevent cycling and pedestrian deaths.
On Saturday, November 19, DMV area bicyclists will ride to Capitol Hill to urge Congress to create safer bike lanes and improve truck safety around cyclists and pedestrians. The ride is a memorial to Sarah Lagenkamp, a US diplomat, wife, mother of two, and avid bicyclist, who was tragically killed on August 25 while riding home from her sons’ new elementary school in Bethesda, Maryland. Sarah had just returned to the United States with her family after being evacuated from Ukraine and was hit by a flatbed truck making a right turn into a parking lot as she rode in an unprotected bike lane.
The ride will retrace the route Sarah took the day she was killed, pass her crash site at 5244 River Road, and ride straight to Congress. At Capitol Hill, riders will push Congress to provide full funding for the Active Transportation Infrastructure Improvement Program in the 2023 appropriations omnibus bill. With this funding, communities can build safe active transportation infrastructure, including safer bike lanes, new bike paths, and bike infrastructure that has fewer gaps that force bikers and pedestrians to ride on dangerous roadways.
Riders should assemble at 9:30 am at Wood Acres Elementary School, 5800 Cromwell Drive, in Bethesda. The group will depart at 10:00 am for a free 10.5-mile, easy-paced ride. Ride support and refreshments will be provided.
The ride is free and will be an important show of riders’ commitment to better bicycling. Register now here.
Ride organizers also are seeking volunteers to help greet and direct riders, serve as ride marshals and advocacy helpers, and distribute t-shirts, water bottles, and snacks and water. Volunteer here.
Please join us in advocating for safer bicycling everywhere.
