She is one of the four who survived when a pickup truck ran down nine bicycle riders in Kalamazoo last June, and Wednesday night, Shelia Jeske was back on a bike riding on the road for the first time since the crash.
“I haven’t rode on the road or on a road bike since that night,” she says.
Jeske was participating in the Kalamazoo “Ride of Silence” to remember people killed or injured on a bicycle. They do it every year, but Wednesday, May 17, was the first Ride of Silence since a pickup truck struck and killed five and injured four members of a Kalamazoo bicycle club on June 7, 2016.
“I lost two very dear friends and some other acquaintances that night,” she says.
So, survivor Shelia Jeske decided the Ride of Silence was the night to get back on the road.
“Four of us survived and we are out trying to get back to doing what we used to love,” she explains. “To see the support and the number of people out here is very positive.”
Jeske says she doesn’t remember the crash, just waking up in the hospital. Police say 50-year-old Charles Picket, Jr. was the driver of the pickup that hit the bicycle riders. He is charged with second degree murder and causing death while operating under the influence.
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