Ride of Silence promotes harmony on the road
by DJ Kauffman Correspondent · May 23rd, 2019


A global Ride of Silence message was put in action locally last Wednesday, when about 50 Linn-County cyclists took to Marion streets, escorted by the Marion Police Department, for the annual grass-roots safety initiative.

"People who do this in their communities are interested in bike safety and in promoting the message of sharing the road," said Bike2work Consultants President and event coordinator Nikki Northrop Davidson.

Prior to the ride, the names of those injured or killed on bikes in Iowa last year were read aloud. Then, at 6 p.m., a hush fell over the riders wearing helmets as they somberly rounded the southwest corner of City Square Park before heading north on 10th Street.

The Ride of Silence event encourages cyclists to be aware of the vehicles around them; cyclists and vehicles can be on the same roads and be considerate of each other.

"When there is a collision between a car and a cyclist, the cyclist is normally going to lose," Davidson said. "That is also true if a cyclist hits the pavement in a single, no interaction with the vehicle, accident."

Moreover, Davidson said cycling is a viable transportation mode for work, for recreation and for day-to-day activities, and new or nominal cyclists can add safety while riding their bikes by wearing visible clothing/helmets and always signaling their intents.

The Ride of Silence has been held in the Cedar Rapids area for over ten years; Marion has hosted it for four of them.

"Marion has been very supportive, and by Marion, I mean the City of Marion and the Marion Police Department," Davidson said. "They have also involved the Cedar Rapids Police Department. We also have a very good route in Marion that is very visible, and that visibility is important when we ride on a combination of low, mid and high-volume streets."

There was no sign up, no registration and no fee to participate. Information about the Linn-County bike ride was posted on Facebook and in the Marion and Cedar Rapids Iowa Bike to Work Event Calendar. Notification of the event was also sent to bike stores in the area.

"I anticipate continuing doing the Ride of Silence in our area; it may or may not be in Marion," Davidson said.

Additionally, she said the first Ride of Silence was held in White Rock, Texas, by Chris Phelan whose friend and cyclist Larry Schwartz was killed riding his bike after being hit by the mirror of a school bus in 2003. Since then, Ride of Silence participation has grown to 20 countries on seven continents and in 47 U.S. states.

The Iowa Bicycle Coalition (iowabicyclecoalition.org) is a non-profit organization working hard at pushing for bicycle changing lanes legislation.