Friends Realizing that the majority of you never met or rode with Jim Mercer I still wanted to talk a minute to recognize my friend/fellow cyclist as the 15th just marked the one year aniversary of his death.
Just after my arrival to this great state I was out toottling around with my husband on our mountain bikes at Shelly Lake on what was a beautiful spring day. We stopped for a break and there was another cyclist already there we starting chatting with...after a nice conversation we all rode our separate ways. A few months later Jim Woods invited me along on a ride he had been taking with a friend on a weekly basis and I pull up and there is the same gentleman from Shelly Lake and it was my friend Jim Mercer. I loved to tease Jim that we were destined to be friends and that he was stuck with me. You would have never known that Jim had only picked up cycling three years prior as he was strong as ever and was hooked. For what seemed like close to a year this threesome met every Thursday as we enjoyed the greenways to Third Place Coffee (on Glenwood) and would then ventue to Umstead or Lake Johnson where they have the best rocking chairs that overlook the lake. Jim was a native of the area and we felt like we had our own tour guide. One of the most memorable stops was Oakwood Memorial Park (downtown raleigh) visiting the Confederate graves and again getting a small history lesson from our friend. On that fateful day a year ago we lost Jim on a ride through Umstead; Jim died of a massive heart attack. I am deeply grateful that Jim Woods was at my side as he performed CPR but we both agree that Jim took his last breath as his body hit the trail dirt. Jim's family takes comfort in knowing Jim was not alone and had the comfort of his friends. (The day before he had riden 50 miles solo and would had been alone). This Tuesday we are taking a ride in his honor. We are meeting at the Shelly Lake parking lot (lower lot by the greenway) at 1:00 pm where we'll venture over via greenways to Third Place Coffee house and over to Umstead Park. You are welcomed to join us if you have time and would like to help us remember a great friend and fellow cylist. Please let me know if you would like to come.
-- You received this message because you foolishly subscribed to the Gyro email group. To post useless drivel to this group, send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected] We love reading 3000 line messages so please don't bother trimming your replies.
