MS150 Breakaway to the Beach

On my return from bicycling the MS 150 the question that was most commonly asked of me was what I knew of the 15 year old girl that was hit by a motor vehicle and killed. My answer was that I knew no more than anyone else who has watched the local news or read the paper. On Sunday morning when the 2000 cyclists converged on the Darlington race track to begin the second day of the ride, the president of the mid-Atlantic chapter of the MS society, Ann Marie McDermott, with poise and grace, informed us of what had taken place. For many of us this was the first we had heard of an accident. She told us that a driver in a pickup pulling a trailer had collided with a tandem bicycle taking the life of Rachel Giblin. While Ms. McDermott held her composure, many of the riders wept. When she had finished someone led us in prayer, and from that we stood for a moment in silence. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for riding a bike and the atmosphere was festive, until then. Speaking for myself, I didn’t feel much like getting on a bike. I would have been just as happy to go home.

What I will recall for years to come was the message delivered to us by the family through Ms. McDermott. We were told that while the family understood that some of us would be too upset to continue our ride, they didn’t want us to quit. They wanted us to “enjoy this day” and to continue the fight to wipe out a devastating disease by, “Peddling to the beach”, they said.

This is how love speaks. It encourages, it supports, it gives reason even when tragedy takes place. While the Giblin family suffered an incomprehensible loss, they wanted the good that we had begun to be completed. Paul’s words about love come to mind. “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

Their words to us, this message from the Giblin family, helped to make a glorious late summer day bearable. So, we got back on our bikes and had another reason to finish the ride.

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