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Update: We will have a police escort for the ride and at the bottom of this post you can find a link to the local newspaper coverage as well.  The newspaper article has the route we intend to ride.

The Pearl River Bicycle Club in Sedalia Missouri has organized a ride for this years Ride of Silence.

What Is The Ride Of Silence About

On May 21, 2008, at [6:00 PM], the Ride of Silence? will begin in North America and roll across the globe. Cyclists will 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.

I got that righe off of the official website which can be found at rideofsilence.org

The ride in Sedalia, MO will be leaving from the Katy Trail trail head behind the Missouri State Fairgrounds just off Clarendon Road.

Everyone needs to get their by 6:00 p.m. (5:30 if you can) so we can get everyone organized and on the road.

Please tell everyone about this and really spread the word. If you are not in the Sedalia Missouri area please go to the official website and find a ride in your area. http://www.rideofsilence.org

Please come join us and bring your friends and family along too.

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Media Coverage: Sedalia Democrat

It was a bit rainy today and it would have been a good day to read a book. I’ve read a few books about cycling and I thought it would be good to share my bicycle reading list with everyone else. All of these books can stand on their own and there are plenty of better book review writers than I could ever be so I’ll spare you the hassle of reading a lame review that I would have written and give you this instead….I like these books and maybe you will too. Thats the extent of my review so here are the books with links to get your own copy. Oh, and these are not really in any particular order, there’s just 10 of them.

1. Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France - Floyd Landis
2. Mountain Bike Like a Champion - Ned Overend
3. Bicycling and the Law: Your Rights as a Cyclist - Bob Mionske
4. It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life - Lance Armstrong, Sally Jenkins
5. 5 Essentials for a Winning Life: The Nutrition, Fitness, and Life Plan for Discovering the Champion Within - Chris Carmichael
6. Bicycles Locked to Poles - John Glassie (Interesting Collection of Photos)
7. The Death of Marco Pantani: A Biography - Matt Rendell
8. The Quotable Cyclist: Great Moments of Bicycling Wisdom, Inspiration and Humor - Bill Strickland
9. Critical Mass: Bicycling’s Defiant Celebration - Chris Carlsson
10. Atomic Zombie’s Bicycle Builder’s Bonanza - Brad Graham, Kathy McGowan (There could be a tall bike in my future)

Please leave any thoughts or comments you have about these books or suggest other books to everyone by leaving a comment bellow.

Just the other day I was out for a ride and as I was pulling into my parents driveway my mom was outside and she says to me, “Aren’t you supposed to ride on the other side of the road?” meaning shouldn’t I be riding against traffic on the left hand side. I thought that was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard of doing. But she was serious. I asked her why she thought I should be doing that and she said that’s what she was taught in school. When bicycle and pedestrian safety was taught when she was in school (it wasn’t that long ago…my mom will appreciate that) they said it was safer to see the cars coming instead of riding with the flow.

I have occasionally seen individuals doing this and most of the time they are either older or part of the immigrant population. I have also noticed that drivers don’t really know Read the rest…

As an avid cyclist, both on the road and on the trail, I know and understand many of the various laws and rights of way afforded to my fellow cyclists and I. Its all too easy to become complacent and forget that others, particularly non-cyclist drivers, may not know these laws and rights of way.

A few weeks ago I was in Springfield visiting my sister. My sister was driving and we were in the crowded downtown area. The streets in down town Springfield are not particularly wide and cars park along the curbs. It was a nice day out so the windows were down. We came upon a bike commuter and had to slow considerably behind him as he made his way up the hill. There was no bike lane or room for us to pass him. When the road did widen and we had room to go around my sister yelled “STAY ON THE SIDEWALK!!!” as we passed. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard.

See, I bike a lot. I talk about it, I write about it, I read about it, and I tell people about it. When my sister did this I could not comprehend the fact that I was riding in the passenger seat of a car that just verbally assaulted a fellow cyclist. If it had been some of my friends on that bike they probably would have sprinted to catch us at the next light and told us what he really thought about ignorant drivers. Thankfully that guy just kept riding like nothing had happened.

I had made the assumption that my sister knew that bicyclists on the road have the same rights of way as cars. I was angry about what had just happened and I let her know about it. This was partly my fault too though. I had never told her that bikes should be considered equal to cars on the road. I never told her that bikes are supposed to stop at traffic lights and stop signs just like cars. I had never told her that if the safest thing to do on a narrow street, with cars on the curb, and on coming traffic going the other way is to take the entire lane and not give room for a car to try and squeeze by until there is room.

I had not done my part to make sure the people around me knew these laws and rights of way. It could have been me on that bike. My sister may not recognize me on a bike with a helmet and sunglass on while driving up from behind.

As a cyclist I feel that it is the responsibility of each cyclist to inform the non-cycling masses about our rights on the road. If we don’t stand up for our selves no one else will.

The non-cycling driver isn’t going to go looking for this information so they don’t offend anyone. They are going assume that bikes are like people on foot. They are going to assume that cars are bigger and faster so they rule the road. They are going to assume that we belong on the sidewalk. They are simply going to assume…and we all know what assuming does right? It makes an ASS out of U and ME!! I felt like an ass when that guy my sister yelled at turned and looked right at me. I was guilty by association.

All of us cyclists need to at least inform the ones around us and I don’t mean gather them all up and hold a class or anything but that could work if you want to do it. I mean just let people know that we belong on the road just like cars. If you hear someone saying something about it that is wrong, speak up and politely correct the matter. But at the very least don’t assume others know and don’t just stand by and let it continue.

If you follow these links you can find more information about bicycle laws and rights of way in your state.

Missouri Bicycle Federation

Laws Pertaining to Bicyclists -This site has a directory of links for each state