Ride of Silence, May 18th, 2005

The Ride of Silence is a silent, slow-paced, national ride to honor those who have been injured or killed, to raise awareness that we are here on the roads, and to ask that we all share the road.

The ride started two years ago in Texas as a memorial ride for a cyclist who was killed in an collision. It really seemed to strike a nerve with people. Last year, 2500 participated at the original location in Texas and many more at 53 locations across the U.S. and Canada.

In Missouri, rides were held at four locations in 2004--St. Louis, St. Charles, Springfield, and Kansas City.

The 2005 Ride of Silence will be May 18th, 2005, at 7PM. For 2005 in Missouri, rides are (tentatively) planned in St. Louis, Ferguson, Springfield, Kansas City, and possibly some other cities.

The Missouri Bicycle Federation encourages Missouri bicycle clubs and individuals to host a Ride of Silence in their communities.

We discovered last year that the Ride of Silence is powerful. Many cyclists go on ordinary group rides, and they are popular for good reason.

But the Ride of Silence is different, in a good way.

We hope to see this grow into a landmark event in Missouri. In Texas, the event grew from 1500 two years ago to 2500 this year.

To plan a ride in your area, all you need to do is get together with your local cycling friends or club, plan a starting point and route, and then let the national Ride of Silence organizers know your plans (via the Ride of Silence web site).