Ride of Silence, Wed May 20th
For those not familiar with the Ride of Silence, it is a global ride that takes place at 7:00pm (local time) on May 20th to honor bicyclists injured or killed while riding. Eric Hirning, a local cyclist, coordinated the first ride in Mesa/Tempe last year, there were about 75 riders. Eric is again coordinating the ride and has even secured a motorcycle escort which will be provided by volunteers from Phoenix Metro Traffic.
TBAG board members will be participating in the ride and also coordinating a ride from Tempe Beach Park to the start point (Alma School & Guadalupe, NW corner, Dairy Queen parking lot). It’s just under 10 miles so the plan is to leave TBP at 6pm sharp. The route for the Ride of Silence is simple. Head westbound on Guadalupe turning around at the entrance to Kiwanis Park and making our way back to the starting location. Riders are encouraged to wear black arm bands unless they’ve been injured in a car/bicycle collision and should then wear red. The speed is kept at 12mph and the ride is silent (no communication unless necessary for safety reasons).
If you plan on riding from Tempe Beach Park please be at the park entrance at Mill/Rio Salado by 6pm, otherwise meet at Alma School & Guadalupe in the Dairy Queen parking lot by 7pm.
Thanks to this site for letting me know about the ride of silence. I really enjoyed the event and was glad to see so many other riders of all types come together for the ride.
So any feedback on the ride?
Tucson had hundreds of cyclists, and the escort made for one really long glob of cyclists. I never been on any ride like that before we were a little slower than 12 miles an hour on average. I can see why it is popular.
Sorry for the slow reply, I’ve been busy with school/research.
The ride was pretty good–I counted around 40-50 cyclists at the Mesa site. Four of us rode out from Tempe Beach Park and met up with a fifth person (Toby) at the event. The police escort was pretty nice, although I’m not sure about the overall impact of the event, other than for those of us who rode. A couple of people rode a long ways to get to the ride (one guy rode ~25 miles from northern Scottsdale), although a lot of other people drove. The guy who organized it said that the guy who organized the year before had asked him to take over–there might be room to grow the event for future years.
“although I’m not sure about the overall impact of the event, other than for those of us who rode. ”
Well sounds like a regular bicycle ride 🙂
It was one of the strangest rides I have been on in many ways. I heard one shop owner say “They’re killing my business”
“They’re killing my business,” heh! I guess he has a point? I’d agree, it was kind of an odd bike ride. I’d be curious to know what it’s like in other parts of the country/world–who shows up and participates? I liked it better than Critical Mass, but…I’m not sure it accomplished much, like I said.
I still like to believe that regular bicycle rides have an impact–it’s one more person that cars have to notice/watch out for (though it would have been nice if the lady on Friday night noticed me before her bumper stopped a foot in front of me).
You ever notice when cyclists want to advocate they get on their bikes and ride in a group? How about something different and more productive?
Cyclists should be allowed parade permits, I liked this ride and thought is was the right thing to for our fallen friends. On the other hand, if a motorist or pedestrian has no idea what is going on with all the cyclists Then they may get angry waiting for 20-40 minutes while stuck in traffic or the sidewalk.