She preferred to walk than to be on the computer. She was always on the move. Tough to keep up with. But she always slowed down for me.

Literally hundreds of people of call to express their shock and loss at her passing. I know that a memorial service is in the works.

Mary never met a dog or cat she didn’t like. A memorial donation in her name was made to the Peninsula SPCA.

Be at peace love.

I am Shelley’s running buddy: we both admired the fact that Mary ran and/or biked daily, rain or shine.

Last night in darkness, I drove a portion of the path that Mary biked every day from Marine Parkway to Redwood Shores Parkway on Shoreway Road. It is worse than described: a winding, uneven road adjacent to Highway 101 with a sidewalk on the left and no curb on the right. Although I did not measure, it feels twice as long as the more straightforward north-to-south path along Twin Dolphin Parkway (the next stoplight and road that leads to Oracle).

I am horrified to know that Mary died alone, but grateful that her death was quick and that police officers knew her kindness. The news reports, random speculation and indefensible attacks on her character are unfair and disheartening. I want to believe they were well-intended and that those of us who were not the victim have been granted another chance to demonstrate better manners.

For Mary, I will attempt to slow down and be a more courteous driver, biker, pedestrian and person. I am left wondering: Did Mary consider driving to work a day after the worst October storm in 47 years? Was she early (probably) on Wednesday morning or late? Did she make her bed or leave dishes in the sink?

From what we knew, Mary lived a life of kindness and compassion – not carelessness; discipline and decency – not poor judgment. We knew her as ‘mom’ to an energetic toddler dog named Moe, who did not always appreciate Mary’s early morning running routine. Moe lost his best friend yesterday.

Mary’s sudden and tragic death is a sobering reminder about the precious, fragile nature of life. In shock, sadness and disbelief, I am trying to imagine how Mary’s weekday routine was interrupted; how she had no idea that Wednesday would be her last; and how Moe probably can’t understand that Mary is not coming home.

I can’t remember the last time we saw Mary on the bike trail, but only hope that we shared kind words and did not focus all of our attention on adorable Moe.

I tried without success to find a photo of Mary on Facebook or LinkedIn. So I decided to share these private thoughts, so readers could get a glimpse of how Mary lived, not how she died. The media has already forgotten this gentle lady who will be missed.

Better bicycle infrastructure would have prevented this death. In cities with proper bicycle infrastructure the injury and death rate is a fraction of ours. Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure.

Stupid Tax paid, candidacy for a Darwin Award.

As an avid cyclist, I’ve often gone for rides in this area. I once road along Shoreway and have never done so again because of the dangerous conditions. As cyclists, we always have to assume that drivers cannot see us. It is simply not safe to go along the side of a vehicle when there is no bike lane or shoulder.

There are alternate routes in this area that are much safer to ride on.

This accident is horribly tragic and my heart goes out to the families of Mary and the truck driver.

Out of this I hope a greater awareness of safety is gained among cyclists and drivers.

We drove out to the intersection today and tried to make sense of it. From the looks of that intersection I can’t see how she survived the last 15 years. It is my understanding that Mary feared this intersection, I can see why. My heart goes out to all those who were lucky enough to know Mary. My heart also goes out to the driver of that truck who accidentally hit my friend and coworker. My prayers are with anyone else who has to use that intersection in the future. The intersection needs to be marked differently if bikers are participating in it. May your concerns and comments help to bring this about.

I usually am coming West on Redwood Shores from Twin Dolphin, then I turn left onto Shoreway, headed past the San Carlos Airport. Sometimes I bail out from my commute south and follow RWS Parkway across 101 where it becomes Holly. This crossing of 101 is not for the fearless. My tactic is to get right into the middle of the through lane even before I cross Shoreway. I could still get hit, but it won’t be because a driver is clueless AND careless, it will include some maliciousness. Note that there is a sharrow in the middle of said through lane.

Now – my take is that this has very little to do with what happened here. As state – the truck right hooked her as the truck turned right from Shoreway onto Redwood Shores/Holly. If you are headed from North->South on a bike in this area, chances are you came from the bike path through Oracle. At that point I detour left and right onto Twin Dolphin because it doesn’t go past the dump (I thought this decision was made – not by me – for smells, maybe it’s for truck avoidance). But you can come out of Oracle onto Shoreway, which is probably what she did.

She was either going to turn right over Holly or go straight, past the airport, and onto the bike path that leads to Whipple. My guess is she was headed straight, based on anecdotal evidence that I have never seen anyone take this right turn and have seen 100′s go striaght. Stereotypically, male cyclists would be more likely to have the bravado to cross at Holly, more experienced cyclists who would have the bravado to cross at Holly would be less likely to get anywhere near that truck. Not blaming the victim – merely speculating on the course of events – “not getting anywhere near that truck” is something I wish we would not have to learn from a mentor or risk learning the hard way.

That section of Redwood Shores Parkway was always frightening and the drivers on that segment were either crazed to get into the dump or hot on getting to the highway as quickly as possible – never mind they had to shed half their speed in order to safely negotiate the ramps to 101.

The big rock trucks (semi-trailer dump trucks) on Marine World Parkway aren’t much better – they don’t bother sticking to their lanes often crowding out even cars and they blow straight through the left-turn lanes at Oracle and at Bridge Pkwy.

I too have biked through this intersection. The bike lane ends just after this intersection as you as you head toward the overpass on Holly Street.

so, i don’t know what’s going on…