It was cold. Huddled in the comforts of Starbuck’s with both hands wrapped around a very warm coffee cup my brain began the weekly thawing process after another frigid winter ride. Seated next to me was a member that I wasn’t sure that I had met. I say that because he was no longer wearing his helmet, gloves, hood, and jacket and wasn’t seated on a particular bicycle. (I have come to realize that bicyclist associate a rider with his bike as in, “Yeah, you know Marty, he rides the black Specialized S-Works.”) He might have been riding next to me the entire chilly morning but without the costume and his bike; well I wasn’t sure.
He introduced himself as Steve Standifer who had indeed been riding a bicycle for a short time and was fairly new to our club. As he spoke in his deep southern drawl, I could tell that he wasn’t from Kansas. I guess my brain actually was thawing. I told him we were glad to have new members join the Plano Bicycle Association (PBA) and hoped that he was enjoying himself. He said that he was and judging by the group he had just ridden with it was obvious that Steve was in pretty good shape.
I discovered that he enjoyed talking which was good because as tired as I was from the ride I was content to just sit there and listen. And listen I did as he had an incredible story to tell. About half way through, I was thinking that there was no way this guy should be even walking, let alone riding a bicycle 50 miles at an 18 MPH pace. I hope my jawbone wasn’t dangling open for too long.
We have all heard the phrases about our lives changing; “in the blink of an eye”, “at a moment’s notice”, “at the snap of your fingers”. They all mean basically the same thing. Steve had one of those “moments” that changed his life forever.
The accident: In July of 2007 he was driving his Acura MDX on Highway 380 headed west from Denton towards Amarillo to visit his father. If you have driven that stretch of highway you’ll know its only two lanes, has many twists and curves resulting in a nerve-wracking drive. Approaching Decatur a rock hauler truck travelling the opposite direction crossed over the line and unfortunately struck Steve’s car on the left front of his MDX. His entire life was changed “In a nanosecond…” continue reading…
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