A tribute to Alicia Celaya Jauregui
At a special Pedal Power ride on Easter Monday, 15 cyclists stopped at the traffic lights where Alicia Celaya Jauregui was recently killed while riding her bike.
Their ride leader wrote this tribute.
At the end of Wednesday’s C ride on 20 March I went home through these traffic lights. Three hours later Alicia Celaya Jauregui died while on this road.
My immediate thought after the numb still that accompanies such shock news … ‘there but for fortune’. Perhaps luck or providence, but we never know what will befall us in life as we live each day.
We all know that cycling has its dangers. But this occurred while she was innocently cycling and her death simply due to a reckless 18-year-old P plate driver.
There is a last line in the one stanza Ogden Nash poem ‘Old Men’.
‘But the old men know when an old man dies’.
As a cyclist we identify with another cyclist. There is a common bond in appreciation as we move together. The communion and love of cycling is something I treasure since joining Pedal Power nearly 5 years ago now.
And there is a double identity for me as I am a tennis player too. I am 40 years Alicia’s senior. It is so tragic that a young exuberant beautiful woman should be stopped dead and be curtailed in enjoying the experience of a long life.
Yesterday was Easter Sunday where the continuance of life is celebrated in the Christian tradition. And the way I feel today, when on the other side I will give Alicia an enormous hug.
As a tribute to Alicia go pedal hard and make the most of every ride. And today ride with her in your heart.
Richard Scutter leader, Pedal Power Monday Ride, 1 April 2024
