‘It could happen to anybody’: Calgary’s motorcycle community mourns early season death | 24CA News
Todd Gilman is remembered as an avid volunteer, supportive buddy and somebody who beloved his canine and his bike.
Gilman was killed in a motorbike accident on Stoney Trail on April 15, when he crossed the fog median, crashed right into a publish and was thrown from his bike. He was transported to hospital with critical accidents the place he later died.
Members and employees on the Veterans Association Food Bank (VAFD) the place Gilman was a consumer earlier than changing into a volunteer are attempting to make sense of the tragedy.
“We may not have seen him every day, but you kind of knew he was out there and to know that he’s not going to come back through the doors again, it’s hard,” mentioned Charles Redeker, operations supervisor at VAFD.
Redeker says Gilman was upfront about who he was and made no false pretenses. Some individuals discovered it intimidating however Redeker mentioned Gilman would do something to assist his brothers and sisters with whom he served.
“He was one of those people that if you were struggling yourself and you just needed to talk to somebody you could pick up the phone and call him and he’d be there to listen,” Redeker mentioned.
Gilman’s demise has additionally impacted Calgary’s bike neighborhood. It’s described as a tightknit neighborhood that’s now planning a memorial journey in honour of the person they name ‘Big Red’.
“He never backed down from anything, you knew his opinion all the time,” laughed Ashlee Taylor, founding father of One Broken Biker. “But he loved the biking community, he loved his motorcycle, he loved his dog.”
Gilman’s is the second bike demise this yr, each have been single automobile collisions. Taylor mentioned all fatalities hit the neighborhood arduous.
“When there’s a fatality this early in the season, it just rocks us,” mentioned Taylor. “Even if you didn’t know Todd or the gentleman before, it shakes us and it’s worrisome every time you get on that bike.”
Gilman was an skilled motorcyclist who knew his limits. Taylor mentioned there’s an added danger getting on a motorbike presently of yr as riders return to the highway after taking the winter months off.
“You get on that motorcycle, you’re excited,” Taylor mentioned. “It can just be a wrong adjustment into a curve, it could happen to anyone.”
The Calgary Police Service is reminding motorcyclists to observe posted pace limits and concentrate on highway circumstances, saying there are lots of elements that may result in a collision.
“Road conditions aren’t what they are in the summer,” mentioned Sgt. Dale Seddon with the CPS visitors division.
“We really want motorcyclists to be aware about speeding, with an increase in speed comes an increase in being involved in a collision.”
— With recordsdata from Meghan Cobb, Global News
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
