This was the first year for the Ride of Silence in Sedalia, Missouri and it was an awesome ride.
We had a group of 28 riders that ranged from kids on mountain bikes to full race kit road riders. We also had a police escort. The police escort really made the ride and I’m really thankful the Sedalia Police Department and Officer Dehaven supported us.
The Sedalia Democrat and the Sedalia News Journal covered the ride and should have articles posted today as well. Click on the pictures to see the full image. All photos of the ride posted here were taken by Kathy Moore
You can see the pre-ride article from the Democrat and the News Journal is supposed to have an article on their site about it but I couldn’t find it on their site (If anyone has the link to it send it to me or post it in the comments).
Honoring the Fallen
Before we started the ride Greg Moore, who is a Pearl River Bicycle Club member and the main organizer of this ride, talked about what the ride is about and how we would proceed. He told the group about his accident in 2000 when he was struck by a drunk driver while he was riding his bike. Then the names of cyclists from Missouri that had been killed while biking since 2000 were read.
The Sound of Silence
A group of 28 riders moving down the road in a pack not saying a word. The only sounds were of clicking derailleurs and free hubs and the occasional squeaky brake. Then the silence would be broken by a quick burst of police siren as the officer stopped traffic at the intersections. Than, back to silence as the group cruised through.
It felt really amazing to ride down the middle of the road without cars rushing by. Turning onto 16th St. during a fairly busy time of day and being able to easily take the lane was even better. Seeing cars pull over and wait as if itwere a funeral procession was pretty cool too.
Awareness
This is the first really public outing for the Pearl River Bicycle Club and I think it is a great way to start. I know we angered some drivers but mostly we raised a lot of questions. People stopped on the street and even came out of their houses to watch us ride by. I’m looking forward to reading the Sedline section in the Democrat to see if we raised any public ire.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Congratulations to the Sedalia cycling community for putting this together and for getting the support of the local police for the ride. Sounds like you had a very good turnout, and have perhaps taken the first steps toward making Sedalia a safer place to ride a bicycle.
I was definitely happy to attend this Ride. I hope that this ride, regardless of whether the attitude was negative to other drivers or not, brings to the town and possibly county at large, that there are other people in this area who have just as much of a right to the road as they do.
Although I don’t know anyone personally who was killed or in a severe accident with another car, I’ve been in way to many close calls to count, some within inches of my head. I hope this ride brings awareness to our home towns that we can ride safer.
UPDATE
http://epaper.sedaliademocrat.com/Default/Client.asp?Skin=Sedalia&Daily=Sedalia&AW=1211500829484
If this link doesn’t work, go to the Sedalia Democrat website, go to the E-Edition under the News section. There is one picture and some text on the front page, bottom right hand corner.
@Kansas Cyclist – Thanks for the link and supporting the Ride of Silence on your own site.
@Adam – Thanks for comming out for the ride and thanks for participating in the converstions on this site.
Its all about spreading the word and building community. Thats all bicycle advocacy really is. Sharing ideas and trying to get everyone on the same page to benefit everyone.
I attended my 1st ride, here in the OC, last year, and it was a very moving experience.
Thanks for joining the cause, and spreading the word.