Group rides to honor cyclists hurt, killed

Joy Macana was following the rules five years ago when she was on a bike ride that ended in an accident.

She was stopped at a red light in front of a motorist, and when the light turned green, the motorist accelerated too quickly and hit her.

Macana, 50, said her bike was destroyed, she suffered tissue damage and continues to have knee and back problems. On top of that, an enjoyable pastime became rife with anxiety.

“They’re bigger than us and they’re going to win every time,” she said of sharing the road with cars. “I had a lot of emotional difficulty getting back on a bike and feeling comfortable being in traffic.”

That’s when Macana joined the Suffolk Bicycle Riders Association, which organizes group rides. On Wednesday evening, the club hosted its annual Ride of Silence to raise awareness about bicycle safety and honor cyclists who have been hurt or killed on the road.

Norman Samuels, 66, of Port Jefferson Station, has been biking with the club since 1985 and said it started hosting the Ride of Silence about 10 years ago after a former club president was killed in a bicycling accident in Colorado.

“That really sensitized us to it,” he said.

About 35 cyclists met at the Park and Ride off Exit 61 on the Long Island Expressway on Wednesday and rode 14 miles on public — and often busy — roads through Holbrook, Patchogue, Blue Point and Bayport.

The route took them south along Patchogue-Holbrook Road until they crossed Sunrise Highway and continued south on Waverly Avenue. They then headed west on Montauk Highway until reaching Broadway Avenue, which they rode north until returning to their starting point.

Bob Devito, the club president, said during some of the ride, the cyclists were in designated bike lanes, but at some points they would be sharing the road, “which we are entitled to,” he said.

The purpose of the ride is to make motorists more aware of cyclists and to emphasize safety, so riders took extreme caution and rode at no more than 12 mph.

At the end of the ride, Devito gathered the group and congratulated them but emphasized that more can always be done.

“Unfortunately, this was more for ourselves than for the public,” he told the group as he encouraged them to share their experience with family and friends. “The public doesn’t get what we do. But we do have the power to reach people.”