On Your Left
Bicycles, Travel, and Photography
Ride of Silence
Last weekend I attended the Michigan Bike Summit. Chris Phelan who started the Ride of Silence in 2002 was an invited speaker.
THE RIDE OF SILENCE WILL NOT BE QUIET
The Ride of Silence begins in North America and rolls across the globe. Cyclists take to the roads in a silent procession to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. Although cyclists have a legal right to share the road with motorists, the motoring public often isn’t aware of these rights, and sometimes not aware of the cyclists themselves.
In 2003, Chris Phelan organized the first Ride of Silence in Dallas after endurance cyclist Larry Schwartz was hit by the mirror of a passing bus and was killed.
The Ride of Silence is a free ride that asks its cyclists to ride no faster than 12 mph and remain silent during the ride. There are no sponsors and no registration fees. The ride, which is held during National Bike Month, aims to raise the awareness of motorists, police and city officials that cyclists have a legal right to the public roadways. The ride is also a chance to show respect for those who have been killed or injured while riding.
LET THE SILENCE ROAR
I’ve been coordinating the Ride of Silence in Arlington Heights for several years. The ride takes place the third Wednesday of May in nearly 300 cities around the world at 7PM local time. This year,
the ride is May 19, 2010. Rides in the southern hemisphere take place the following Saturday morning due to the difference in seasons.
Ride of Silence Arlington Heights
I attended the summit with Elizabeth Adamczyk who coordinates the Ride of Silence in Chicago. Elizabeth keeps in contact with the coordinator in Evanston. We also are in contact with Sara Jo Briese who coordinates the ride in Joliet. We work together to generate publicity and make cyclists aware of the ride and ask them to participate. We talk to people at bike shops, at bike clubs, at invitation bike rides, and stop commuting cyclists to raise awareness.
Often rides have police escorts. In Arlington Heights, Illinois, we are accompanied by the Police Bicycle Patrol. Some cities have bagpipes, or a trumpet playing Taps. Each ride is locally organized.
Early in the day, we met Chris Phelen. We also met Mark Hager who coordinates among the nearly 35 Rides of Silence in the State of Michigan. We also met Tim Potter who manages the Ride of Silence website. Chris presented a copy of the Ride of Silence poster to Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists.
Chris and Andy
Later that day, one of the sessions at the Michigan Bike Summit was about the ride. Chris and Mark both spoke.
<
Mark standing, Tim sitting
Chris told all in attendance the story of how he came about to create this ride. Chris Phelan is a humble man, one who shys away from the limelight. He would probably notlike to hear that to many people, he is a hero. I was talking with a group of cyclists last night, and I repreated the story of how Chris started the Ride of Silence. One of the cyclists, a quiet thoughtful man, said that this ride is the most important ride of all the bicycle rides in the world. Certainly more important than all the critical mass rides in raising awareness of the rights and thoughts of cyclists.
I’ll paraphrase Chris’s story. I hope I can do it justice.
Larry Schwartz was a friend of Chris. An endurance cyclist, a racer, who was riding solo on a Texas road. The road was empty, except for a single school bus, which hit Larry with the mirror and Larry died. At the funeral, Chris talked to many cyclists and expresssed the opinion that someone should organize a bike ride in Larry’s honor. They should “just do something”. Chris is an athlete too, but primarily a runner rather than a cyclists.
No one stepped up to organize anything. Finally after a few days, Chris sent out an emai to a few people saying that he was going to ride around a lake in Dallas, on a 9 mile paved path, on a Wednesday evening, and he was going to ride silently. No one responded to his email. Chris, his wife, and another friend rode to the park at evening. He was sad that no one else had responded to his email. When they crossed over a hill to enter the park, there were 1000 cyclists waiting for Chris. Not only were there cyclists, but also 4 police cars and 1 helicopter overhead. They rode silently and at the end all the riders lined up their bicycles and gave Chris a thumbs up.
Immediately after the ride, Chris’s phone began to ring. People wanted to hear the story and to tell Chris that the ride needed to happen again the next year. Chris thought that it could never happen again. He waited until January 1st of the next year to decide that he would ride again. He never expected anyone to show up, it was a one-time miracle. Again Chris was incorrect, the ride
happened and 2000 cyclists showed up. People in 50 cities from Montreal to Honolulu recreated the ride. The rest, as they say, is history.
This is a simple ride, to honor those who have been killed while riding. Chris says: He is going for a bike ride and if you want to join him that would be very nice. That simple statement is the essence of the Ride of Silence. I’m going for a bike ride on May 19th at 7PM in Arlington Heights. Please join me. Just show up and remain silent, Show respect for those who have perished on a ride. If you are not close to Arlington Heights, Illinois, then join Elizabeth in Chicago, join Sara Jo in Joliet, join Mark in Michigan, or Chris in Dallas. Whereever you live, wherever you are, ride and invite your friends and neighbors to join you.
In Chicago, the ride goes past the sites of several Ghost Bikes. In Joliet, the ride honors Sara Jo’s mother, who was killed while riding a club ride with the bike club in Joliet.
This ride is not a downer by any means. While sometimes people sob along the way, it is uplifting experience. We are making a postive statement by riding silently and respectfully.
That evening, we attended a dinner. Several coordinators from Michigan attended.
- Bob Krzewinski; Ypsilanti RofS Organizer
- Chris Benson; Harbor Springs RofS Organizer
- Christina Riddle; Manistique (LMB Director) RofS Organizer last year
- Colleen Brown; Oakland Co. RofS Organizer
- Dave Duffield; Westland (LMB Director) RofS Organizer
- Fred Schaafsma; Traverse City RofS Organizer
- Laura Harris; Holland RofS Organizer
- Lenny Provencher; Haslett RofS Organizer
- Mike Sheena, Boyne City (LMB Director) RofS Organizer
- Tim Potter; E. Lansing RofS Organizer
Chris spoke
We posed for a group photo and returned home.
No related posts.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
[...] I was invited to attend the summit to meet Chris Phelan who started the Ride Of Silence. Mark Hagar and Tim Potter are board members of the Ride of Silence and Michigan residents. I’ve been coordinating the Ride of Silence in Arlington Heights for several years. Elizabeth Adamczyk has been coordinating the Chicago Ride of Silence and we had talked about attending the event for several weeks. We drove over Friday night arriving around 1AM. Somehow we each were able to get up in time for the 9AM start of the Bike Summit. We had several opportunities to talk with Chris, Tim, and Mark. I’ll wrote more about the Ride of Silence in a separate blog post. [...]
Thank you, Gary, …very, very much. I can’t believe I got a little choked up AGAIN, at the same place of the story about the first Ride Of Silence: coming over the hill and seeing all those cyclists. I don’t think I’ll EVER be able to convey what that was like for me and, as I see it, the larger cycling community. To not only SEE that solidarity, but to FEEL it, too. “We are together, …and we are countless.”
Thank you!
Maybe next year I come to Illinois?
c