Fifty Plus (50+) - The Ride Of Silence 2012

Is tonight! Anyone here participating in the ride? Our town is hosting a ride, not sure how many are going to be there.

Here is a little video clip of one event:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmQC5OEdxRQ&feature=fvst

I was signed up to do the one in Tampa, but can't do it now with my arm in a sling. I was really forward to this ride since they made it known.

I'm going and so is my daughter. My wife would like to ride it, but she doesn't think she can do the mileage & pace. I got hit by a car a little over a year ago, so it is personally important for me to show.

I'll be leading the one here tonight. We've been doing the ROS for 7 years now. The ride is especially meaningful now since we lost one of our own, Hal Kent (http://sites.google.com/site/halscrosscountryblog/), to a careless driver in Mississippi during a cross-country tour a couple of years ago.

I hate to see the number of red arm bands increasing every year. :(

I guess the one here in Colorado Springs isn't going to happen, as it's not listed on the ROS site, bummer, might have to just do my own, solo! :(

I did it last year.

This year, however, the local bike coalitions are doing a Ride-To-Work-Day on Friday, and because it's too close to today, the RoS has been cancelled.

I did it last year.

This year, however, the local bike coalitions are doing a Ride-To-Work-Day on Friday, and because it's too close to today, the RoS has been cancelled.


Boo on your local bike coalitions. They should do both. (imho)

The City of Irvine, in California, hosts what has become a very big event. The string of riders can reach several miles long if not longer. Any locals interested, they start at the Irvine Civil Center, 7 pm. Brings lights.

I'll be riding in Highland, Indiana. First year for this location.

The City of Irvine, in California, hosts what has become a very big event. The string of riders can reach several miles long if not longer. Any locals interested, they start at the Irvine Civil Center, 7 pm. Brings lights.

Hi Pam, I rode in the Irvine Ride of Silence a few years ago. It was, by far, the best attended RoS that I've attended. I also liked how the Irvine police supported the ride. What I didn't like was how roughly half the ride was on MUPs. The organizer notes that the ride exists in part "to ask that we all share the road." It's hard to get that message to motorists when you're on a MUP.

As our club's Bike Advocacy Officer, I have organized a RoS only for our club members last year and this year. Unfortunately, we have to limit it to club members because of liability concerns by our Board of Directors. I am working with a local advocacy group to see if we can organize a public RoS in Long Beach for 2013.

Cleave its interesting what you say about use of MUPs... when we first started the ride (also then limited to BCI, OCW and OCRR) it was on all the busy streets... I think we caused the Irvine PD (and some of us riders) some real anxiety. I believe this is a good compromise to get riders out, give them a chance to ride together in slow single file motion (which apparently is an art skill with so many riders) and then attack the streets. In the initial days we did cause some problems and issues with motorists - all people just trying to get home from home or pick up kids from soccer practice... the riders still get out there and I think the message is clear but I understand your concern.

We currently have sunny skies but temps will be 55deg and a 15mph headwind going out. That should help us keep our 12mph pace.....at least in the first half.

One of the blessings of a small town is that we'll have a couple dozen riders if we are lucky. We can ride right through the heart of town and on some of the busiest low speed streets around without creating much of a dent in the traffic flow.

I did it last year.

This year, however, the local bike coalitions are doing a Ride-To-Work-Day on Friday, and because it's too close to today, the RoS has been cancelled.


Boo on your local bike coalitions. They should do both. (imho)

Yep. Both happening in Fort Worth.

One of the blessings of a small town is that we'll have a couple dozen riders if we are lucky. We can ride right through the heart of town and on some of the busiest low speed streets around without creating much of a dent in the traffic flow.Our town (Boyne City, Mi) has a pop of 3500 and three very active bike shops. I have no clue how many are going to be in the ride tonight. Maybe a dozen or maybe 60. Love small towns.

I am back home. Rural. The closest town has about 300 people. The only other rider I have seen around here is my cousin when she rides with me. I went and did two miles alone.

I am back home. Rural. The closest town has about 300 people. The only other rider I have seen around here is my cousin when she rides with me. I went and did two miles alone.Hey, you were part of something big :D

We ended up with 16 from our small town, I think the one youngest guy was about 40. Several were in their 60's and one lady was 70+.

We had a bakers dozen, 13 riders show up for the Ride of Silence tonight. I gave a brief talk about the history of the event and a dedication of our ride to the memory of Hal Kent, the only member of our club killed in a car/bike accident. Only three of us wore red arm bands signifying we had been injured by cars. I led the 5 mile ride and then we made plans for tomorrow's 25 mile road ride.

We had 217 people in Fort Worth. We anticipated a police escort, but they never showed so we handled traffic duty ourselves. One of the guys who was holding traffic at an intersection said this:


while blocking traffic at the intersection of Rosedale and Pennsylvania, a rather large and rough looking guy in a truck rolled down his window and asked "Hey, is this a ride for cancer or something?" (i guess because of the pink jerseys) i inched up to his window and softly said "it's the Ride Of Silence. we're riding to honer those who have been injured or killed while riding a bike. this is happening in cities all over the US, right now." a tear instantly formed in his eye. he commended us and wished us a safe ride. i hope we had this affect on more, but even if he was the only one, i'd say it was worth it.

Lots of Megan Baab jerseys. Megan was a girl who grew up and raced here, and was on a college racing team. She was hit and killed on a training ride. Her parents rode a tandem with us tonight.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/558635_364391696943060_100001166989376_953865_1314008487_n.jpg

BF's Scottstr organized the ride in Fort Worth
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/579813_364391836943046_100001166989376_953870_225980846_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/292204_364392056943024_100001166989376_953877_225142857_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/546558_364392143609682_100001166989376_953882_1937014113_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/544143_364392313609665_100001166989376_953893_1377089111_n.jpg

BF's Yo Spiff
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/540424_364392550276308_100001166989376_953909_1983044141_n.jpg

https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/392571_364392573609639_100001166989376_953911_1517055869_n.jpg

We followed a route that took us out of town to a local township park but in my opinion we should have taken a more well travelled road. Not many cars passed us, not many saw us. Even when we met at our downtown military memorial park it was overshadowed by the weekend festival carnival being hammered together.

Our greatest promo will be the newspaper article and excellent pictures. Our greatest profile will be the honor of remembering those tragically killed and/or injured while enjoying our greatest outdoor activity.

We're kind of fortunate in that after a quick peak during rush hour, our downtown is pretty rideable. In the third to the last picture above, that's one of the main streets downtown and we simply took it over. There was still some motor traffic, and there were quite a few people out and about. It's kind of weird in that for the ROS, we riders are in a contemplative mood, considering those killed and injured on bikes, but some people in cars or on foot will hoot and holler and do the "F*** YEAH, BIKES!" kind of thing.

Paul is a bit taller and was able to get some of those higher perspectives that I couldn't. I'll toss in a handful of my own pics from the ride, however. I also got to meet a couple of BF members that I hadn't run into before.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5337/7215342338_8f700fe9e1_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/yospiff/7215342338/)
Ft. Worth Ride of Silence (http://www.flickr.com/photos/yospiff/7215342338/) by Yo Spiff (http://www.flickr.com/people/yospiff/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7076/7215342358_97de4c6a76_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/yospiff/7215342358/)
Ft. Worth Ride of Silence (http://www.flickr.com/photos/yospiff/7215342358/) by Yo Spiff (http://www.flickr.com/people/yospiff/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8004/7215342380_3128ec59ee_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/yospiff/7215342380/)
Ft. Worth Ride of Silence (http://www.flickr.com/photos/yospiff/7215342380/) by Yo Spiff (http://www.flickr.com/people/yospiff/), on Flickr

I didn't make last nights ride but it went on as scheduled, even in the rain.

I was part of the ride last night.
Last years the ride was in a cold drizzle but last night was bright and clear. We rode from the campus down to the Capitol. Here's a link: http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2012/05/4fb470127ad71

I was part of the ride last night.
Last years the ride was in a cold drizzle but last night was bright and clear. We rode from the campus down to the Capitol. Here's a link: http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2012/05/4fb470127ad71Good to hear from another Michigander. I'm up here in Boyne City :D

Good to hear from another Michigander. I'm up here in Boyne City :D

Yeah, we Michiganders got to stick together.
I think that there were about 30 Michigan cities sponsoring rides last night, that's a good thing.

2 years ago I showed up for the ride of silence in Royal Oak michigan,,the leader acted like a Nazi..I now just do my ride of silence alone, which I did yesterday.

2 years ago I showed up for the ride of silence in Royal Oak michigan,,the leader acted like a Nazi..I now just do my ride of silence alone, which I did yesterday.Was he wearing black leather with a whip? That's the Royal Oak I remember.

The Great Plains Bicycling Club held its annual Ride of Silence. About 40 riders rode thru the downtown area and back to one of the parks. Nebr just passed the 3 foot passing rule. Even here in Lincoln, we have a list of cyclist killed or hurt by careless drivers.