Ride For Your Life To Honor Bethesda Woman Killed While Riding Bike

BETHESDA, MD — A grieving husband, a leading bicycle manufacturer and D.C. area bicycle safety groups are sponsoring the Ride for Your Life, a 10-mile bike ride that will start at a Maryland elementary school and finish on Capitol Hill.

The Ride for Your Life, held in memory of Sarah Langenkamp who was killed over the summer while biking in Bethesda, is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. on Nov. 19. The ride will aim to raise awareness about federal funding that could improve bicycle infrastructure and federal regulations that could increase truck safety.

On Aug. 25, Langenkamp was riding her bicycle home from Wood Acres Elementary School in Bethesda, where her two sons attend. As she rode along River Road, a flatbed truck struck and killed Langenkamp even though her bicycle was in a clearly marked, yet unprotected, bike lane where commercial traffic competes with cyclists for space.

Hundreds participated in a memorial bicycle ride in Bethesda on Sept. 5 to honor Langenkamp. At the memorial ride, Dan Langenkamp, Sarah's husband, promised to hold a larger bicycle ride into D.C. in Sarah's honor later in the year.

In partnership with Trek Bicycle, Langenkamp is organizing the Ride for Your Life. Other sponsoring organizations include PeopleForBikes, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, Families for Safe Streets, the League of American Bicyclists, Transportation Alternatives and the Truck Safety Coalition.

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Sarah Langenkamp had worked as a foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department for 17 years. She and her family had just returned to the D.C. area after being evacuated from Ukraine. During their work overseas, Sarah and Dan Langenkamp had been committed cyclists and regularly commuted to work all over the world, including in Ukraine and Côte d'Ivoire.

“I just can’t let Sarah’s death take place in vain,” Dan Langenkamp said in a statement. “There is no reason that a person in America should be risking their life to bike to school or work. There are easy solutions here: connected and protected bike lanes, practical solutions we know exist to improve trucking safety, law enforcement. We know the solutions. We just need to fund and implement them.”

Dan Langenkamp and the ride’s other organizers want federal lawmakers to fund the Active Infrastructure Investment Act, which passed in 2021 to help local governments improve safe cycling routes. But the act was never provided any funds by Congress.

The organizers also want to see practical changes implemented to improve trucking safety, such as mandating better training, use of automated driver assistance systems, and front and side under ride guards for trucks, which will protect cars, cyclists and pedestrians from the danger of being caught under truck carriages.

Beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19, riders will travel 10 miles starting at Wood Acres Elementary School, past Sarah’s crash site at 5244 River Road in Bethesda and on to Capitol Hill. There is no cost to participate in the ride, but interested cyclists are asked to register for the ride to ensure appropriate ride support and refreshments.

Langenkamp emphasized that he is aiming to complement the efforts of organizations already dedicated to bike and trucking safety through government advocacy, public awareness, driver education, and new tech solutions.

Visit the Ride for Your Life website to learn more about the event or to register to participate in the ride.