The Joe Morrison memorial bike ride
Last night (June 16th), the second bike ride both in memory of Joe Morrison and as a call for bike safety, was held in Whitehorse, and I rode it as well as many more kilometers to and from it.
The Facebook notice about the event said: “Join us again this year as we ride in memory of Joe – a husband, a father, a teacher, a friend, and a valued member of our community – who lost his life one year ago while commuting by bicycle.
Together, we will REMEMBER Joe, RIDE on, and REIMAGINE safe and inclusive active transportation.
Like last year, this will be a calm, peaceful, and respectful ride. The pace will be slow to ensure all ages and abilities can take part and emphasis will be on safety.”
For me, the ride was 29.5 km long – with my bike on the rack, I drove to a rest area closer to town, with that mileage in mind. To ride from home would have added another 26.4 km. This map is from my Strava page.
A significant aspect of the ride is that the Alaska Highway is completely closed to vehicles for about an hour and a half. This requires significant cooperation and participation by both the City of Whitehorse and the Yukon Government. The closure was advertised heavily in every way possible. This notice by Yukon Highways and Public Works acknowledges that it also takes understanding by drivers: “We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as we support this meaningful event.”
I made a short detour on the way to the ride, to get photos of the highway closure notices on the big highway conditions sign just south of Mary Lake.
I wanted to be at Holy Family School, where Joe worked as a teacher and where the ride would begin, at 6:30, and gave myself a little over an hour to get there. Rain had started as I got close to the rest area.
The warning on my bike computer was correct – there were even darker clouds ahead, that were obviously dropping rain.
Within a couple of hundred meters I crossed Robert Service Way and then was on the very nice new trail that basically goes along the airport. Dealing with traffic, especially intersections, really stresses me out and I avoid it whenever possible.
Work is continuing on a major upgrade of the airport, and thousands of cubic yards of dirt are being dumped at the south end of the property.
Going by the Yukon Transportation Museum.
Thunderstorms sometimes provide superb lighting, and I lucked into an Air North flight lined up to take off. C-FNYA is one of their newest Boeing 737-8s (bought in September 2023). This is the plane I flew to Calgary and back on in April.
Getting across 6 lanes of Two Mile Hill traffic and then Range Road, I was soon about to turn off onto a forest trail for a while. That’s where I prefer to ride.
Ah, that’s better! 🙂
Trailforks notes this trail as the Sage Trail, 1.5 km long. Part of the Trans Canada Trail, it provides some really nice views, and there are several benches along it.
It’s an excellent trail to get panoramas documenting changes in the Marwell industrial area.
I can see in this photo that it was wet and windy at the Whistle Bend viewpoint, but without the photo I wouldn’t be able to tell you what it was like, so it apparently didn’t bother me.
Development has begun on vast new area in the Whistle Bend community, and another beside Northland Trailer Park that I had passed a few minutes before.
Looking back at my route.
I arrived at the school right at 6:30, as planned. I was disappointed by the number of people there, but they kept coming and the crowd soon looked very good. I had very nice visits with two long-time friends, so time passed quickly. At 6:50 a very good presentation about the event was made – I wish I had videoed it. It was in total a wonderful statement about our community.
I’ll copy a bit about Joe Morrison from his obituary in the July 10th edition of the Yukon News: “Joe loved travelling and adventure. For every hike, canoe trip, ski trip or bike ride, he would plan five more. Joe also loved sports as an athlete, coach, and referee. He especially loved soccer and hockey and would always have a game on TV. Ever enthusiastic, Joe was always up for something new, be it dancing or ski patrol; and he was not afraid to make mistakes. He had a big heart, and was ready to help people in any way he could.”
Joseph Richard Morrison was born in North Vancouver, BC, on August 22, 1967. He and his wife moved to the Yukon in 2004, and he started teaching at Carcross. Fot the 10 years prior to his death, Joe had taught at Holy Family Elementary School. On June 13, 2024, while riding his bike along the Alaska Highway in Rabbit’s Foot Canyon on the way to work, he was struck from behind by a driver who then fled. Joe died in hospital the next morning. The driver, with a long list of previous criminal convictions, was soon caught, but I’ve not found any report of what happened in court.
Although this tragedy was the trigger for the ride, it was and is much more – it’s a statement in support of safe and inclusive active transportation. At the first ride last year, many participants wore tags saying “It could have been me” 🙁
Even though our season of good cycling weather is quite short, there are a huge number of bikes in the Whitehorse area, and some folks do ride and commute year-round.
A safety and logistics overview was provided before we departed. The spokesman from the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement branch let us know among other things that pilot and sweep vehicles would be escorting the group.
At 7:00, with the sun now shining, we started to head out, with the destination being the Canada Games Centre, 9 km away.
What a cool sight 🙂 – this is looking up Wann Road to the Alaska Highway.
It soon became apparent just how many people it took to make this ride safe. RCMP, Highways, Bylaw Services, Commercial Vehicle officers…
There was already a lot of traffic backed up on the highway. I was very surprised to see two City transit buses there – that seems like poor planning.
I haven’t seen an “official” estimate, but I’m guessing about 400 people took part. The weather may have kept many away, as there were said to be 500 last year.
Rabbit’s Foot Canyon, named after the first copper mine located there. It was staked in 1898. See “The copper mines of Rabbit’s Foot Canyon” for much more about that.
The Joe Morrison memorial – “the ghost bike.”
We had been cautioned to stay in the southbound lane, and to be aware that emergency vehicles would still be able to use the highway. As we left the canyon, an RCMP cruiser went by with lights and siren on.
I took quite a few little detours to record the ride. The group sort of broke up into groups with some large spaces between them.
At least two paramedics were riding with us.
At the Canada Games Centre, I met another friend, who shot a selfie of us 🙂
A “super power” cape – like Joe, she’s a teacher and avid cyclist.
I wasn’t able to stay at the Canada Games Centre for very long. As is so often still the case, my brain wasn’t able to process what was being said, and it quickly became literally painful.
The ride back to the car was half on a paved trail and half on the shoulder of Hamilton Boulevard.
After having sun for the entire memorial ride, it started raining about two minutes before I reached the car, at about 8:15.
I’m really glad that I made the effort to attend this event. Things like this make me very proud to be part of a community that still cares about taking care of each other.
About The Author
