2012 Ride of Silence...

empty, silent bike on one more ride, being escorted by a friend of a fallen rider

(photo courtesy Trish Mayo)

I was trying to think of something poignant to say about this evenings Ride of Silence - I made it out to the Rancho Cucamonga ride, hosted by Cycling Connection. This was my first year to attend a Ride of Silence, so there should be plenty of inspiration to base a post on; things like how the ride brought so many riders from the regular activities to remember the fallen, how the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department considered the Ride important enough that they provided support. But in the end, I think, it was how the riders rode true to the spirit of the ride. Whether it was in remembrance of someone they personally knew/know, or someone they have read or heard about, the ride was truly a silent one. The occasional clicking of a gear change, the ratcheting on spinning freewheels, clips of cleats into pedals, were the only sounds from the procession. I found myself recalling the names of people I admittedly had never heard of before their lives were taken from friends and family, from the community of cyclists.

setting the rules, and

reminding everyone why we were there.

riders up ahead of me, and

riders back behind me.

I don't know how many people we passed realized what this long line of cyclists was all about, why we were riding. At first I thought this an odd contradiction, but I finally came to realize that the Ride of Silence, at least as I see it, isn't for them; it is really for us. A coming to terms, a reconciling, which perhaps, only we can understand because of our shared experience as cyclists. So, in the end, the most poignant thing I can note about the Ride ... was the silence.