Tragedy on ME2SB

While cruising along the Pacific Coast Highway with my parents I saw a post that left my heart more broken than when I said goodbye to my fellow SUSer's. Patrick Wanninkhof, a leader on the Maine to Santa Barbara route and Bridget Anderson, a rider, had been struck by a car from behind and Patrick pronounced dead on the scene. Bridget is in critical condition and the whole ME2SB team is struggling to get through this next to impossible time. Patrick was a UF grad and teacher in the Bronx when we wanted to become an advocate for AH.

It impacted our entire team so much and  we can't even imagine what they are going through on the road right now. Although we had some accidents and scary close calls, we were fortunate enough to all reach the Pacific safely. As a team we immediately decided that we had to do something for ME2SB and were each given a rider to write a letter to. I've been assigned Bridget, a fellow Floridian (and current UF student) whom I've never actually met but whose cousin I've played water polo with/against throughout college. We may live different lives and be on different routes, but she still feels like family and her injury still hits so close to home. 

Now for the PSA- The driver in the accident was reportedly "distracted by her phone" when the accident occurred that has already affected so many. The hard part is realizing that we've all done it at one time or another- sent a quick text, changed the song on Spotify, or sent a silly pic to a friend at a stop light. To put it simply, it's not worth it. Never can those actions be undone and although this story is tragic for everyone involved, we have the power to be the change we want to see in the cycling world (that's how Gandhi put it, right?). Our thoughts are with Bridget, all of the families involved and all of the Maine to Santa Barbara riders. Rest easy, Patrick.

Xoxo,

Emily

SUS'15

I have added a link to the full report below

http://bikeandbuild.org/Patrick%20Letter.pdf