Call

Blog

Law
02

Blog

Alabama’s Billy Ritch

Read how a 32-year smoker transforms into a bike hero!

Billy Ritch found health, community, and joy the day he ditched the cigarettes and bought a bike.

Billy Ritch is well known in Alabama’s cycling community. Over the years he and his wife, Stephanie, founded and headed for 5 years the Restoration Ride, which was one of the century rides included in Alabama’s popular Backroad Series.  Billy also runs “Cycling Alabama” a large and growing Facebook community devoted to all things cycling in Alabama.

Billy recently retired from Northrop Grumman during which time he worked in the Bio-Hazard Division.  His work required a good deal of travel, and on one road trip about 11 years ago from Montgomery to Birmingham, he had a chance to speak to one of his co-workers and friends who enjoyed riding bicycles.  Billy said that at that moment, he just decided that he needed a “fresh start” and he decided to make a lifestyle change. He purchased a bicycle from Wal-Mart and began cycling.

Billy lives in Cook Springs and his initial goal was to ride 2-3 miles in his neighborhood.  From there, he decided to ride to Leeds and back – a round distance trip of 14 miles. Then, he decided to ride to his in-laws house and back, close to 60 miles.

Soon thereafter, he decided to upgrade his bike.  He describes going to Cahaba Cycles “with a Marlboro in his mouth,” and purchasing a Trek 2.3 (which he still owns and rides today, along with 4 other bicycles).  He had been a smoker for 32 years, but after purchasing his new Trek, he has not smoked again. “Fresh start” and “lifestyle change” made good.

In less than a year since he took up cycling, he rode his first century – the 2010 Tour de Cure.  Billy said that he was amazed at how fast he was able to ride when he was in a group with other people.  His typical speed riding alone had been 12-13 mph, but he averaged right at 16 mph on his first Century Ride.  After that, he says he was hooked – not so much on riding fast – but rather, riding long and enjoying the adventure of being on a bicycle.  

He has ridden 34 centuries in the Alabama Backroad series alone. And, he has spent lots of time riding and camping out.  He tried getting his wife interested in cycling (she is an avid hiker) and although she gave it a try, it wasn’t for her.  Neither was their attempt at tandem riding which he says resulted in now having a tandem bike with less than a 100 miles on it.  So, they often vacation together where he can ride and she can hike.

Billy also is well known for his barbequing skills.  He has prepared barbeque for several hundred riders at a number of centuries, including the Restoration Ride and the Birmingham Bicycle Club century.  Although he says that he is tempted to turn his cooking passion into a business, thus far he has resisted that temptation as he relishes the freedom to cycle and travel when and where he likes.

Billy is optimistic about what is going on in Birmingham’s cycling community.  He views Anniston as the most progressive cycling city in the State, but he believes that Birmingham is making strides in becoming more cycling friendly.  Billy views events like Hammerfest, which brings bicycle racers from across the nation to Birmingham in a few short weeks (March 14-15 2020), as a positive for the community.  He thinks that the increase in local trails is a positive. Whatever it takes to get more people on bikes is a positive in Billy’s opinion as the more people riding, the more people in cars will accept cyclists (since they will have friends or family members who regularly ride bicycles).  Hence, although he hasn’t yet added an E-bike to his collection of 5 bikes, he does believe that E-bikes are a positive as they allow more people to gain the pleasure of riding.

 

Comments

Charlie Thomas Nov 08, 2024

A gap in Texas law is allowing some drivers who hit people in crosswalks to get off scot-free, despite recently passed legislation meant to address the issue. It’s called the Lisa Torry Smith Act and was passed in 2021. This law requires drivers to “stop and yield” to pedestrians, bicyclists, and anyone else legally using […]

Read More
Bike lawyer rides her bike in Charlotte, NC
Ann Groninger Jun 21, 2024

Bike Law lawyer hassled by a driver for riding in the lane. Why, because she was trying to take a left turn!

Read More
E-BIKE LAWS. ARE THEY LEGAL?
Ann Groninger Apr 04, 2024

Love them or hate them, e-bikes continue to rise in popularity. At the same time, lawmakers struggle to keep up with the developing technologies. Every week I get multiple inquiries from people trying to navigate North Carolina’s e-bike laws. If you’re confused, you’re not alone.  We could easily fill a book with all the latest […]

Read More
Ann Groninger Jan 04, 2024

Many of our cycling clients find themselves having to interact with the criminal justice system. Typically, it’s because the driver who hits them (or their family member) is charged with a crime or traffic offense. Occasionally bicyclists themselves are charged with traffic offenses! Every state’s criminal laws are different, but there is a lot of […]

Read More
Bike Crash Road Defect Georgia
Peter Wilborn Jun 14, 2023

We recently shared the story of a trial victory from the State of Texas where a bicyclist was injured due to a defect in a road maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation. Texas Road Defect   We now can tell the story of another huge win in a road defect case, this time from […]

Read More
Road defect dangerous to cyclists
Charlie Thomas Mar 14, 2023

Recently, attorneys with the Bike Law network took a case to a trial against a titan of a defendant: the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT was represented by the Attorney General’s Office, one of Texas’ largest legal teams. We had a great client, but it was a tough case to prove. So tough, in fact, […]

Read More
bike path charlotte
Ann Groninger Jan 13, 2023

  2023 got off to a rough start for Charlotte, North Carolina, particularly in the context of road safety. Within about a week, we lost a young woman who was riding her bicycle, a pedestrian killed in the same area of town, and four people were killed in a car wreck on I-85 in the […]

Read More
North Carolina Bike Crash
Ann Groninger Dec 06, 2022

Unless you’re a very recent follower of ours, you’ve heard us talk before about “contributory negligence.” To recap: “pure contributory negligence” is the law in North Carolina and only 3 other states (Alabama, Virginia, Maryland). In pure contributory negligence states, if a person is injured by someone else’s fault and the injured person contributes even […]

Read More
Is It Illegal to Ride Your Bike on the Sidewalk bikelaw
Peter Wilborn Aug 01, 2022

The laws dictating whether you can ride your bike on the sidewalk differ depending where you live. Different states have different laws on this matter, and local ordinances also vary. Let’s take a look at the legal framework behind various state laws related to cycling on sidewalks. The laws of sidewalk-riding can be very complicated […]

Read More
Load More