Ride of Silence

[Trek420]

Thanks Chocolatepizza & Luve2,

I am planning to join the Oakland ROS. Welcome to TE, stick around and surf on over to the "getting to know you" thread.

[Popoki_Nui]

It seems there is a Ride of Silence here in Victoria too. I assume one can just show up and participate? I've sent an email to the ride organizer here; I hope to join the Ride this evening too.

~S.

[bikerchick68]

Popoki... yup, just go join in...

I'm riding here in San Diego at 7PM as well... the ride here leaves from the corner of India St at Washington St...

[Bike Goddess]

I am was not able to be part of a Ride of Silence today due to work commitments. How did it go for those of you who rode? Please share your stories- maybe on a Ride of Silence report. TREK 420- I know you're out there riding soon- maybe you could start a new thread.

[withm]

I did the Ride of Silence in Rehoboth Beach (DE). We had about 30 riders. As usual, it is very somber. We rode 2 abreast, 8 miles through the stretch of main road here that has been the location of countless bike/car accidents, including several fatalaties every year. This stretch of road- 6 lanes, no shoulder, and lined with shopping centers, fast food, gas stations, offices and now condos is a nightmare to ride but there are no alternate routes so many are forced to traverse this area. Even with a police escort front and rear stopping traffic for us we had cars attempting to cut us off. Of two that I saw close up, both drivers were talking on cell phones, and a 3rd stopped just in time - he was eating a hamburger. As far as I'm concerned, this is this Ride of Silence HAS to be done but I would think very hard about negotiating this area any other time.

Tonight we rode with the threat of thunderstorms but we had only sprinkles at the end. Last year we had many more riders but that ride was held shortly after a particularly bad, and highly publicized, bicycle fatality where a young girl from Eastern Europe was hit and killed by an inattentive driver chatting on her cell phone. Participation was down I think because of the weeather and that fortunately there have not been any highly visible incidents in recent weeks. (Actually there have been several but a little farther away, and less publicized.)

Martha

[GreenLady]

My BF and I did the Ride of Silence in Philadelphia; it's the first year the ride is happening. There were a few hundred people, from race teams to bike messengers, commuters, people on recumbents, people on tandems. Many of the people we met had stories of bad encounters with cars.

The police closed a 7-mile loop through the city, on some of the scariest downtown streets. It was a particularly sad ride, since a 6-year old boy on a bicycle was killed last Saturday, on a road that is supposed to be closed to cars on the weekend. A van just went through the barriers...

Unfortunately, I do not know how many drivers were "touched" by this ride. Many of those who had to stop were catching up on their cellphone conversations, eating or reading; others were annoyed for losing 5 precious minutes. I hope they won't take it out on the next biker they encounter.

[Tri Girl]

I rode tonight in Oklahoma City. We possibly had a couple hundred riders (I'm a terrible estimater)- all shapes, sizes, ages and abilities. We had a police escort, and it was a somber mood. It was a really neat ride, and for such a great reason. As we rode through downtown, it made me giggle to myself because people would cheer us on and tell us "good job, keep going." I wish they knew the reason we were riding in silence, but it was nice that they cared.
It was a great experience, and I'll definitely do it every year.

[Trek420]

I rode to work today so i could do this, probably would have ridden anyway. I took time off today to leave early otherwise I would have missed the ride. Since I had time to kill I rode up to Piedmont Ave to stop by and say hi to Spazzdog and Quidich-dog. BTW I can attest that Quid will try to eat your mtb tire left to his own devices thought she was joking about that but he's very well trained.

We had lunch together than I headed to downtown.

At first I did not see where the ride started than I saw the Yellow Jacket club jerseys. They are hard to miss.

OT-Velogirl if you're lurking while we waited the talk turned to Bike Against the Odds and while several club members joshed that they thought it was a fluke that they beat the Velogirls in pledges last year I believe we've been challenged.

Then the ride start got serious, a moment of silence and we went round, several people said who they were riding for. a rider from Sacramento named bikerbilly from bike journal. One of the main organisers from EBBC talked about the ride history. It's amazing the hazzards we face but even in CA flagrant and deadly drivers may get less than a commuter lane ticket for killing us. It's just a cyclist.

We rode out, 2-3 abreast and the silence was odd, just the sound of clicking and unclipping, brakes, shifting. People signaled and silently mouthed instuctions. We rode through dowtown Oakland, Chinatown, by Laney College than around the Lake. Then out a bit south of Lake Merrit. We looped back to do the lake a second time. Near the Oakland Museum I mouthed and signaled Bye and dropped off the back. I stopped to watch them ride the few blocks back to the start than headed home.

Very poignient and emotional. I could use some cheering up.

So I'm off work tomorrow and though I have to meet a plumber in the afternoon (ah the joys of home ownership) I plan to bike to work, just not go to work and that's all for the pancakes at Downtown Oakland. I could use them right now.