Hundreds of other bikers came during the long weekend to honour Sarah Langenkamp, a 42-year-old mother, diplomat, and resident of the Washington, D.C., region, who died last month while riding her bicycle.
In Bethesda, Maryland, Langenkamp was killed after being struck by a Red Volvo flat-bed truck when it made a right turn and hit him while he was in the bike lane on a busy commercial thoroughfare.
Dan Langenkamp, her widower, organised the Monday ride and expressed his astonishment at the cycling community’s show of support.
Langenkamp, who had only one day earlier put to rest his wife beside his two boys, ages 8 and 10, said, “We can alter this situation; it’s not that hard.” “Some reasonable obstacles, some reasonable traffic laws.” Just show that sharing the road is a question of saving lives, he said.
Just weeks before she tragically passed away, Sarah Langenkamp had returned from the war-torn Ukraine for the relative protection of the serene and charming neighbourhood of Bethesda, adding a another layer of sadness to her narrative.
Dan Langenkamp, a State Department employee, said, “She was supposed to be protected, and to me, it is completely outrageous that she would be safer in Ukraine than she would be on streets in the Washington metro area.”
She was attacked and killed while she was walking back from an elementary school open house, according to WUSA9.
The distraught spouse said, “She never got here because she struck this dangerous bike path, where not five minutes after we talked, she was literally simply mowed down by a vehicle.”
Dan, Sarah’s husband (on the left), says he is “livid” that cyclists are dying on local roads due to ineffective safety regulations.
The “ghostbike” honours the location where Langenkamp died on August 25 after being hit by a red Volvo flat-bed truck while returning home on a bicycle.
The loss of Langenkamp is the most recent in a string of recent rider fatalities that has alarmed the close-knit riding community.
She was the 33rd person murdered by a road vehicle in Montgomery County this year, according to Action Committee for Transit’s Miriam Schoenbaum.
A family friend and fellow State Department worker said that although he could “connect with how deadly highways can be,” he was unable to relate to Langekamp’s widower.
The Langenkamp who survived remarked, “Our capacity to march on does not give an explanation, does not make it right, does not make what occurred here acceptable.” That won’t assist my sons, who will have to grow up without their mother’s embraces. We will have another little funeral on Mother’s Day.
Dan, who characterises himself as ‘livid’ over his wife’s premature death, told StreetsBlog that “we are enticing bikers to their deaths.”
Online conspirators were quick to suggest that Sarah may have been the target of evil powers due to the nature of her work with the government and in Ukraine, but Bethesda and other locals are sure that the main issue is road safety.
“No one — should have to question if they heard your voice attempting to console them as they lay in the crosswalk,” the speaker said. Nobody should ever see bright red blood on the ground. This is not how anyone’s life should end. Not only my family is here. Jessica Hart, whose 5-year-old daughter Allison was murdered last September while riding her bike at a crossing, told the Washington Post that “too many other families know similar pain.”
The truck’s driver, who hit and killed Langenkamp on August 25 as he was turning into a parking lot, has not yet been charged.
Dan Langenkamp launched a GoFundMe campaign to collect money for bike safety in her memory, and it has already raised about $250,000.
Friends are aware that our dedication to riding is closely tied to our strong convictions about leading a healthy, moral, and environmentally friendly life. Sarah didn’t have to prove to the world that she was a capable worker, diplomat, leader, or role model. Her work and behaviours demonstrated her elegance, intellect, generosity, and profound devotion to advancing American interests abroad. One passage of the long account of Sarah’s injury and dedication to bettering the world she lived in states, “Sarah rode a bike to complete her essential task, virtually every day.”