Ride of Silence

Ghost Bike- the beginning, velo city on flickr

Tomorrow night (Wednesday, May 20th, 2009), cyclists all over the world will participate in the 7th annual Ride of Silence in honor and in memory of fellow cyclists that have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways. In Austin TX, the eight-mile ride will start and end on the Pfluger Bridge. Dedications and announcements start at 6:15pm. The ride starts at 7pm and will last approximately one hour.

If there is a rider that you wish to be named or that you are riding in honor of, send the dedication to emilyglick18[@]gmail.com, or you may choose to speak for yourself. If you wish to speak, please arrive prior to 6:15pm and locate the organizers. Some riders will wear black armbands in memory of riders killed or a red armband for a cyclist that has been injured sharing the road, or pin pictures to their jerseys. All of these gestures promote awareness and an opportunity for silent reflection.

Per the request of Cindy Stone in the Statesman, please carry an ID so that if a driver runs you off the road, police can identify your dead body.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Shawn Shillington in News on May 19, 2009 10:07 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Benj

Ditto #5. I was bummed that even the Hatesman would run that shit. But maybe the best way to rid ourselves of sub-morons with bullhorns is to just let them keep talking.

kelsoATX

I read Cindy Stone's opinion piece. There are ways to call for "new, informed, and thoughtful leadership" to the City's bike program without sounding like a condescending snarky assh*le, but she failed miserably at it.

RonB

I hope that this is done well and more importantly, right.

As a cyclist in Austin, I think most of the groups that allegedly work to improve biking conditions in Austin do a lot more to hurt the cycling community as a whole. Critical Mass comes to mind, and I hope that this isn't just a different variant of that.

RonB

To add one thing, I feel that Cindy Stone's article certainly gets one thing right:

"'Bicycle friendly' should be a two-way street"

I certainly don't feel that drivers are doing their fair part to meet halfway. And I feel that an EXTREMELY vocal minority are setting things back the cause for cyclists.

Cindy Stone's article points out a lot of negatives with all sides, I think a lot of her bullet points are the most offensive. But if somehow people can turn the negatives into positives, it would the the RIGHT way to attack the issue.

seth

I'm not sure first-person is the voice the Austinist wants to use on public demonstration pieces like this.

It comes across like that piece from a couple years back encouraging people to go out to Hippy Hollow to protest a (non-existant) law prohibiting naked breasts in public.

Seth