Today’s news is dominated by the sad news about biker fatalities.

Cycle fatalities uncommon, officials say
By RUSSELL ANGLIN            amarillo.com
russell.anglin@amarillo.com

While bicycle fatalities are fairly uncommon in the Texas Panhandle, officials Friday stressed the importance of driving and bicycling responsibly after a Thursday afternoon wreck killed one Amarillo bicyclist and left another critically injured.

Bicyclists and motorcyclists have the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicle drivers in the eyes of the law, Department of Public Safety Trooper Gabriel Medrano said, and they need to be every bit as cautious on…

National cyclocross championship results, Friday
By VeloNews.com
21. Kenneth SMITH (9 – Cat1), (Mansfield, TX) Oklahoma City Velo Club, at 56:08:00
39. Martin SOETAERT (17 – Cat3), (Austin, TX) Team Brain And Spine Cycling, at :@1Lp

News is slow today so I decided to include some bike romance.

StoryCorps captures Central Texans’ memories for posterity
By Ciara O’Rourke        AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Geoff O’Meara was too shy to talk to the pretty lifeguard perched over the lap lanes.

It was the summer of 1996, and O’Meara, an architecture student at the University of Texas, spent nearly every day at Gregory Pool. He tried and failed to say hi. But as September neared, so did his fear that he’d never again get the chance to.

So he left a note on her bike, a red Raleigh locked to the rack outside the pool.

“Hey, lifeguard,” it said. “Sorry I don’t know your name.”

He wondered if she’d like to get a coffee. He promised he wasn’t a creep. He asked her to call or leave a note on the blue Gary Fisher that he parked next to her mountain bike.

She did. Her name was Diane , but she was leaving in a few days to go to school in Colorado. But they kept in touch. Their paths crossed and they parted ways. And in 2005, they married.

The O’Mearas have told the story of how they met numerous times. But on Saturday , sitting inside the Airstream-turned-recording-studio that StoryCorps takes…

RIDE OF SILENCE, May 16
Old Tascosa Cycling Club
Sadly, we will have yet another name to read at the 2012 RIDE OF SILENCE to remember local bicycle riders killed by a motorist while bicycling: DAVID ISOM. This year’s Ride will be on May 16 (Weds.) in Amarillo and 300 other locations worldwide. Please plan to participate.