Paci’s Bicycle Rally

I wanted to post this for my friend Joe and for all bicyclists out there on our roadways. On June 18th about 7:00 PM on N. Cherry leading out of NKC, a driver purposely struck Joe Pace while he was riding his bicycle. Joe was riding with Anne single file up N. Cherry, when they heard a motorist come up behind them blaring on his horn (this has happened to about all of us). Joe told Anne to just get as far over as she could, so the car could pass. The motorist came around Anne making sure he got as close as he could get to her and then purposely swerved into Joe, who was just a little farther up the road, striking him with the side of his car. Joe’s left arm and wrist took most of the impact, while the rest of his body slammed into the vehicle. Joe then crashed onto the street, hitting his hip and head on the pavement (he had a helmet on). The driver sped off, without knowing if he had seriously injured somebody or worse. Thank goodness Joe’s injuries aren’t life threatening and he is going to recover. There were witnesses who got a description of the car and the driver, but no license plate number. A police report was filed and a $500 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of this criminal.
Joe is having a bike rally at is Restaurant/Bar, Paci’s, on Saturday, June 27th at 7:00 AM. The rally will be covered by Channel 9 News. They are doing a cover story on the Heart of America Bridge and why the city should make bicycle lanes on it. Steve Mahoney interviewed Joe and Anne for the story and are hoping to use Joe’s story as a lead in to the Heart of America bike lane piece.
The address for Paci’s is 1825 Buchanan, NKC, MO. If you can make it on June 27th at 7:00 AM, that would be great. Hopefully we can help raise awareness that bicycles are out on the roads and we have just as much right to use the roads as cars do and maybe we can get the guy who hit Joe off the street, before he attacks another cyclist.