Ride of Silence, May 21st

[josephr]

Last Saturday I was climbing Shades Mtn and as I approached an intersection, a car came up from the right, stopped at her stop sign and she looked left for on-coming cars (right towards me) and then proceeded to turn right. She stomped her brake when she realized she was about to pull out in front of me. Realistically, there wasn't a chance she would hit me....but she was clearly surprised when she realized there was a dude on a bike with a headlight and wearing a hi-vis rain jacket....

thankfully, she let me pass as its a 6% grade there and I was huffin' it!

The Ride of Silence is coming up on Wednesday, May 21st, at 7:00pm Central. Just thought I'd take a minute to encourage everyone to seek out your local Ride of Silence. I've only ridden in this the past few years but each time it really adds a new layer of respect for fellow cyclists and how quickly the fun can end due to an unexpected turn of events.

Ride aware, Ride Safe,
Joe

[MattTuck]

I ask this seriously, and no disrespect meant to you or the organization that runs these rides. Do they actually obey the rules of the road as stated on their website?

I do not think that I've ever been on an organized group ride of more than 5 or 6 people during which a group of riders did not flagrantly violate traffic laws and/or inattentively impede traffic.

I can imagine nothing more irritating than going on a ride to support our rights and pay respects to those injured only to be infuriated by some cyclists turning it into a critical mass protest.

[josephr]

I ask this seriously, and no disrespect meant to you or the organization that runs these rides. Do they actually obey the rules of the road as stated on their website?

I do not think that I've ever been on an organized group ride of more than 5 or 6 people during which a group of riders did not flagrantly violate traffic laws and/or inattentively impede traffic.

I can imagine nothing more irritating than going on a ride to support our rights and pay respects to those injured only to be infuriated by some cyclists turning it into a critical mass protest.

I'm sure its easy for a few folks to get on their soapbox and start preaching, but if you ask me, thats the beauty of the "silence' is that it keeps folks focused on the reason why they're there -- a moment of remembrance, not a time to protest or demonstrate. There's plenty of other opportunities for that.
Joe