Bicycle Austin forum

RedFalcon

Member

Registered: 2013-10-10

Posts: 233

Ride of Silence Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Wednesday, May 15, 2019.  Gather at 6:45; Ride starts at 7:00 PM

This year we will have TWO Ride of Silence events in Austin! Choose the one that best suits your needs.

*Downtown ride starts from the Pfluger bridge.  I'm not sure of the exact course and distance, but will edit this post when I find out. Social Cycling is putting this on, so check them out https://www.facebook.com/socialcyclingaustin/

*North Austin ride starts from Bratton Square (14721 Bratton Lane in Wells Branch).  This ride will be 8 miles over a pretty easy course and  will be a bit more family friendly. After the ride, if people are interested, we can hang out at Polvos and talk about some of the issues we face in this area.  I may have some breaking news to share about the Wells Branch Drive safety study being done by Travis County.

The Ride of Silence will traverse and unite the globe as nothing before it. Cyclists will take to the roads in a silent procession to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways.

Although cyclists have a legal right to share the road with motorists, the motoring public often isn't aware of these rights, and sometimes not aware of the cyclists themselves. 

Come and join one of the rides.  Do you live far south and want to host a ride that fits your community?  If so, please contact me and I'll be happy to give you some ideas.

For more information, visit: http://www.rideofsilence.org

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

Website

Re: Ride of Silence Wednesday, May 15, 2019

I'm sorry I was unable to make it.  How'd it go?

RedFalcon

Member

Registered: 2013-10-10

Posts: 233

Re: Ride of Silence Wednesday, May 15, 2019

I'm not sure how the downtown ride went, but if anyone was there, let us know.

My North Austin ride went really well.  I advertise it as being family friendly, and my seven year old grandson was able to complete the whole 8 mile loop, plus the 5 miles to get there and back.   

We only had a few riders, but everyone was enthusiastic and agreed that these rides are important to do.  At least a few of them told me that if we didn't have this northern ride they would not have gone downtown. Also, a few of the people at my RoS showed up at my Bike 2 Work Day Fueling Station on Friday at the same location. 

What I heard from cyclists at both of these events is exactly what I have been saying for a long time.  Everything to do with cycling in Austin seems to be centered on what is going on downtown where there are already a lot (never enough) cyclists.  We get ignored out the suburbs.  I image that cyclists who live way south feel the same, and I would encourage anyone out that way to sponsor a Ride of Silence and B2WD fueling station in their area.  These are great ways to get local cyclists more involved, especially if you information to share about county or city plans for road improvements.

dougmc

Administrator

Registered: 2008-06-01

Posts: 631

Re: Ride of Silence Wednesday, May 15, 2019

The central Austin ride was fairly well attended.  Photos.

The general sentiment seemed to not be much different than what you saw, however.

There actually was a B2WD station that was almost on my way to work, which was a nice change from the past where I had to go pretty far out of my way if I wanted to socialize a bit!