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Bicycle Ride of Silence goes on, alone or in family groups

Bicycle Ride of Silence goes on, alone or in family groups
Bob Krueger goes on his own Ride of Silence last month in honor of bicyclists who have been injured or killed while riding. The annual group event was canceled this year because of COVID-19. Submitted photo
By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Ride of Silence was also a solitary ride this year for many as COVID-19 restrictions altered the annual event designed to draw attention to bicycle safety.

The event, usually held the third Wednesday of May during National Bike Month, remembers those bicyclists who have been killed or injured while riding, including the two cyclists who were killed in Floyd County: Bob Phillips, age 69, on June 8, 2016, and Brian Lauterbach, age 55, on July 3, 2014.

Bob Krueger, who helps organize the Charles City ride each year, said Ride of Silence organizers encouraged bicyclists to go on their own rides, alone or in family groups, or to even ride “virtually,” on bike trainers.

The event is usually a leisurely ride through town, done in silence to honor those who have been killed or injured while riding, and to help spread awareness that bicyclists have a right to use public streets and roads.

This year, Ride of Silence riders were encouraged to take a photo and post it to the national group’s website, www.rideofsilence.org/reports, so they can be posted on the group’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/rideofsilence.

The Ride of Silence began in 2003 in Dallas to honor a local cyclist who was killed when he was struck by the mirror of a passing school bus. Within 10 days, emails and word of mouth organized a memorial bike ride that attracted 1,000 bicyclists with the idea that they would ride in complete silence.

News of the ride quickly spread and prompted similar silent rides around the world.

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