Ride of Silence today (Weds) to commemorate fallen cyclists

Tomorrow, thousands of cyclists around the world will unite in the Ride of Silence to commemorate fellow riders who have been killed or injured while riding their bicycles on public roads.

Inspired by the death of cyclist Larry Schwartz, killed by a school bus mirror in 2003, and held annually since the inaugural event that year when 1,000 cyclists rode together in Dallas Texas, the Ride of Silence organization has as its mission statement “To honour those who have been injured or killed, to raise awareness that we are here and to ask that we all share the road.”

Taking place at 7pm local time across the globe, participants are asked to maintain a speed of no more than 12mph and to remain silent throughout the ride.

Some 282 separate rides are planned, most of them in the United States, although the day will also be commemorated in places as far-flung as Omagh in Northern Ireland – the only UK ride – Brazil, Indonesia, New Zealand and Spain, and even in Antarctica. There, staff at the Palmer Station US research base will spend an hour pedalling stationary bikes indoors, the third year they have marked the event.

If you and at least two fellow cyclists would like to stage your own ride at 7pm tomorrow, it’s not too late to register it on the Ride of Silence website.