My wife, friend and I attended the dedication ceremony June 3 in honor of Tom Draper who tragically lost his life while cycling on a public road. A worthy dedication to a man who was so respected, generous and kind to so many people.
After the ceremony we rode the trail toward Georgetown to show our friend from Wilmington how beautiful it was. My wife and I live in Five Points East so we have easy access to the trail. As we attempted to cross the road which leads to the dairy farm, we heard a large group of cyclists coming from behind. We crossed the road cautiously and decided to stop on the other side, get off our bikes and let them pass.
They were loud, a radio was blaring and they passed us at an unsafe speed, never stopping at the road crossing. They did not even slow down as they rode through the yellow posts on the other side of the road.
This group of riders included cyclists who attended the ceremony, a group of riders from a club and the Sussex Cyclists, of which I am a member. One of the Sussex Cyclists told us not to stop on the trail. One rider who was cycling at an unsafe speed just missed my wife and friend by inches as he crossed to the outside of the far right yellow post where my wife and her friend were standing allowing them to pass. My wife tried to get back on her bike in a safe zone on the far right side when two other riders rode by her very fast.
She was startled, and as a result lost control of her bike. She is not an experienced rider. My wife and her bike went over the large stones on the side of the road and she fell into the split-rail fence face first. I turned around and came back, and she was in shock. Her neck was scraped badly from hitting the fence, she was bleeding from both knees and her wrist hurt. Miraculously, she was not hurt bad, as this crash could have been much worse.
A group stopped and among them was Sam Calagione, owner of Dogfish Head, whose father-in-law was Tom Draper, who the trail was dedicated to. He asked my wife if she was OK. Fortunately some riders coming the other way stopped and had a first aid kit. I cleaned the blood from both of her knees and bandaged them. They commented that this fast group was riding at an unsafe speed and some riders were passing slower riders while riders coming from the opposite direction were approaching. It was difficult to pull her out of the ravine as the bike was on top of her. Once she gained her senses we returned to our home in Five Points, and applied ice to her wrist and antiseptic to her wounds.
This trail is beautiful, and many locals and tourists will be enjoying it for many years, especially after it is finished. However, inconsiderate riders like this group, who ride it at an unsafe speed and place other riders in harm’s way, ruin the intention of why this trail was built. It was not built to be a race course but to offer a safer alternative to cycle our beautiful area and not the dangerous roads that have become more dangerous as more people move here.
Let’s hope these dangerous and inconsiderate riders get the message and stay off the trail.
Ray Scott
Lewes
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