I told myself the ride was a good cause for bike awareness so I should hang around until more people showed up. I did keep one foot clipped in, just in case I didn’t count enough heads and I could ride away. Riders began to trickle over to where the organizers where also looking around with some disappointment and I saw a clipboard being passed around. The clipboard was of course a waiver (somewhat ironic at the event, I thought) and maps were handed out showing the route out and back. I signed the waiver and declined the map. I told the squeaky voiced woman who was desperately trying to make the event seem important (although it was apparent she had never organized anything before in her life) that I would just follow the rest of the riders and if I got lost (an 8 mile ride for goodness sake) I could find my way back home. She looked at me like I was crazy and then traced the route with her finger and told me out loud the name of the streets we would be riding on.

Someone from the Post Dispatch showed up and talked to another organizer of the ride while the rest of us stood around and surveyed each other all the while hoping there would be more riders showing up. Thank goodness the interview took a while and the squeaky voiced woman kept taking the clipboard and her maps around to stragglers as they appeared or I would have clipped in my other shoe and rode off. I was disappointed at the showing of riders. I know there are several bike clubs in St. Louis and I didn’t see anyone who was wearing a jersey that indicated that any of those folks were present. None of the snobby bike racers that I see while I’m out riding were there. None of the folks that I even see on the organized Trailnet rides on the weekends were there. I would bet that the riders who did show up NEVER get off the bike paths, that they NEVER ride on the streets. Yet, here they were.

We were told to let the folks who had been hit by cars ride in the front and that the rest of us should stay together as much as possible. They were going to try and keep the speed at 12 mph. We were asked to wait for all the riders to catch up if we did get separated by a stoplight changing. Some of the towns that we would be crossing through had alerted their police departments that we would be coming through as a group, but they would not be controlling intersections for us or giving us any kind of escort.

We took off at 7pm. I think there might have been 50 of us in all. The riders did keep silent. They did obey all the traffic rules. We did arrive back at exactly one hour later. We did get some cars at the stoplights ask what we were doing and the squeaky voiced woman handed them a piece of paper explaining the ride. I can only hope that next year they have a better turnout.

If you go to this link, you can see the video that the Post Dispatch reporter turned in. The buffering will drive you crazy. If you look closely, you can see a tiny “me” in the still frame of the video. I had a Bad Dog jersey on, and I am just in front of the leg of the person on the right of the screen. The Post has a terrible webpage. You will have to scroll down to see the video selections, they are on the right of the page and it was listed this morning at the first one.

http://www.stltoday.com

These sorts of events draw out new people and allow people from different cycling areas to mix and mingle (which would be easier if the ride wasn’t silent – stupid, stupid, stupid). If I meet just one person at this lame event that I like and want to ride with again, the ride was worth my time.

This year’s Ride of Silence, I booked 19.21 miles at 13.3 miles an hour (details: Matt’s 2008 Bike Log). Slow to be sure, but that was the ride’s fault and not mine. Last year’s ride was 13.01 miles at 11.1 miles an hour. It was in Boca Raton so I had to rack my bike to get down there. This year, I rode from my house to the event and back.

Heck, even if I don’t meet anyone, I put in some miles on a day and at a time I otherwise wouldn’t. That’s a win in my book.

You’ve got some good ideas.

I’m confused, though.

You say that it’s “flawed” and “lame,” but then you say that you’ll do it again next year.

Was that a typo or do you just believe that ANY ride is better than NO ride?

Their stated goal is to raise awareness of bikes amongst folks in cars. Yet, our ride was done in a gated community whose car traffic volume is minimal.
If they really wanted motorists to see cyclists, they would have done the ride up PGA Blvd or Military.

They also pick the worst time of day for the ride. Dusk, at the tail end of rush hour, has to be one of the most dangerous times of the day to ride and yet that is when they pick for the ride. Dumb.
I really think the time of day helps to keep down participation. More people would bike to the event if they didn’t have to worry about getting killed on the way home in the dark.
People on beaters don’t have good lights and, if they generally just cruise their neighborhood, may not have a bike rack to get to the ride.
Roadies aren’t interested in an eight-mile loop if they have to rack their bikes to get there. Since they don’t have lights (way too heavy), they aren’t able to ride to the event and back in the dark. If the ride were at 10am on Saturday, I can easily see roadies riding 20 miles to the site of the event and then riding home. They might even do it in mass.

If I wanted to create a ride to support fallen cyclists and raise bike awareness, I’d design an easily recognizable t-shirt (for normal people) and jersey (for cyclists) with a totally rocking logo. Then I’d sell those to bike clubs, individuals and, in bulk, to those who are current sponsors of the silent ride.
Finally I’d pick a weekend day to ride. On that one day a year, every person with a bike would wear that shirt/jersey on a ride of any length, the longer the better.
I’m sure some people would organize rides just for the event but I’m also confident that some people would just do their normal ride. That’s fine.
The point would be that for one day every year, every cyclist would look the same. People in cars would do double-takes when dozens of random riders all across town were wearing the same jersey. Every rider on the road for one day would stand out simply because the rider looked like every other rider.

As it stands, however, the ride is lame. I’ll probably do it again next year.