About the 2010 Ride of Silence
By Adam • May 21st, 2010 • Category: AdvocacyPictures by Robin Karlsson
The Ride of Silence was first organized by Chris Phelan after Larry Schwartz was struck and killed by a school bus mirror in Dallas during 2003. The ride now takes place in 310 cities across the world all riding on the same day at 7:00 pm local time. Our local ride was unfortunately triggered by the death of Glenn Garvin in 2006 after being struck by a car on Westlake Blvd.
For the third year in a row, we gathered on the third Wednesday in May which this year fell on May 19 to honor those cyclists who have fallen in car-bike accidents. As riders arrived, they were given arm bands. Red if they had been hit by a car, black if they are riding in honor of someone who was hit. Surprisingly there were not a shortage of red arm bands in the group.
At 7:00 pm, the group began our slow, silent procession across Thousand Oaks past City Hall all the way to Westlake Village at which point we would head back to Thousand Oaks again passing City Hall. We were joined by several officers from the Ventura County Sheriffs Dept. Some of the deputies rode their patrol bicycles while others were in black and white police vehicles closing down each intersection as we prepared to ride through. At the head and tail of the ride were vehicles carrying a banner telling motorists why 180 people were riding today.
On May 18, 2011 we will again meet to ride in memory of cyclists who have fallen in car-bike accidents. Please join us.
Additional information can be found at http://www.rideofsielnce.org/
Adam is President of The Conejo Valley Cyclists and leader of the Orange and Social rides.
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