The Ride of Silence

Hello Velodrome members. My name is Mark Hagar. I hold the Membership Chair of
the
Rapid Wheelmen Bike Club in Grand Rapids and am the Michigan Representative for
the
Ride of Silence. I would personally like to thank Cycling Saddlemen Jeff Osowski
for again
coordinating the Livonia - Dearborn Ride of Silence that will take place on May
17th, 2006.
I will again coordinate the Grand Rapids Ride of Silence.

The 2006 Ride of Silence will roll across Michigan, the U.S. and the world on
May 17th,
2006 at 7:00 PM (a few sites will adjust their time). This is NOT a Critical
Mass Ride. There
are no shirts or items for sale, there's no fee or registration. Each ride is
approximately 12
miles long, is ridden at a 12 MPH pace, and is Silent, though its message won't
be. It's not
just a club ride. It's a ride for Moms, Dads, brothers & sisters, family &
friends, beginning
cyclists to the racers, anyone who wishes to honor a cyclist that has been
killed or injured
by a motorist while out riding and to let motorist know they MUST Share the Road
with us.
Participants are asked to wear a black arm band to honor a cyclist who's been
killed, and/
or a red arm band to honor a cyclist that has been injured.

As of Jan 31st, we have 13 confirmed sites in Mich, the most of any state in the
U.S. at this
point. Locations and supporting clubs are (**new for 2006);

**Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society, Washtenaw Bicycling & Walking
Coalition,
Start location to be determined
**Battle Creek, Battle Creek Bicycle Club, from parking lot behind Team Active
**Boyne City, North Country Bicycle Club, start location to be determined
** Flint, Genessee Wanderers Bicycling Club, start location to be determined
Grand Rapids, Rapid Wheelmen, Macatawa Cycling Club of Holland, West Mich. Coast
Riders of Muskegon, Jade Cycles of Zeeland, from Riverside Park
**Hamburg-Pinckney, Against the Wind Cycling Club, start location to be
determined
**Houghton, Copper County Cycling Club, start location to be determined
**Jackson, Cascades Cycling Club, start location to be determined
**Lansing, Tri-County Bicycle Assoc., from Haslett Middle School
Livonia-Westland-Dearborn, Multiple Detroit area clubs, from Nankin Mills
Pavilion, Hines
Drive
Midland-Bay City-Saginaw, Tri-City Cyclists, Bay City this year, start location
to be
determined
**Mount Pleasant, CMU Cycling Club, start location to be determined
Traverse City, Cherry Capitol Cycling Club, from Horizon Book Store
TENTATIVE:
Grattan, at Wed. night race series, all Racers riding one slow lap in Silence
(as they did last
year)

There are a few clubs considering hosting a ride in their area, and I am still
in the process
of contacting other locations around the state. For those unfamiliar with the
Ride of
Silence, here is a brief history;

* In 2003 endurance cyclist Larry Schwartz is struck and killed by the mirror of
a passing
bus while cycling outside of Dallas. His friend Coach Chris Phelan organizes a
memorial
ride in Dallas on May 18th, titled the Ride of Silence, a slow paced silent 12
mile ride to
honor his friend. Over 1,000 cyclists attend. Chris thinks he has closure.
* Word spreads about the Ride. A grassroots movement takes place…
* In 2004, Rides of Silences take place on May 18th in 50 cities in the U.S. and
Canada.
The Dallas Ride has 2,500 cyclists. It's written up in Bicycling magazine. (I
believe the 1st
Detroit area Ride is held)
* Chris actively promotes the Ride. A board of directors is in place. A
copyright is applied
for the Ride of Silence name.
* In 2005, Rides of Silences take place in over 100 U.S cities, 120+ worldwide,
in 9
countries, across 4 continents. The Dallas Ride again has 2,500 cyclists. The
Dallas City
Council issues a proclamation that May 18th 2005 is The Ride of Silence Day. The
Dallas
board appoints a representative in each of the states / areas. Grand Rapids
holds its 1st
Ride of Silence and 5 are held state wide.
* Rides of Silences will take place on May 17th 2006, worldwide, at 7:00 PM.

The League of Michigan Bicyclists will promote the 2006 Ride to all affiliated
clubs. I have
been working with Dave Duffield, LMB Director at Large. Dave attended the
Livonia-
Dearborn Ride last year and submitted the write up about it to Chris and the
Dallas Board.
I've submitted all sites that were confirmed by Oct. 31st to the LMB 2006 Ride
Calendar. 8
of the above sites were confirmed by that date. For the sites that came on board
after the
deadline, I asked that a general statement be included, to the affect of: If
your location is
not listed, please contact your local bike club or shop for any additional Rides
that may
have been scheduled. To quote Dave: "I personally think this ride may be the
most
important one listed on the calendar for obvious reasons." All locations have
been
submitted to the LAB calendar.

The League of American Cyclists has recently emailed clubs around the country,
on the
importance of this Ride, and requests that all clubs consider attending.
Executive Director
Andy Clarke and V.P. Preston Tyree will be traveling to Texas in May, to join
the Dallas
ride, to show their support on a national level.

I would ask that all Cycling Saddlemen, Wolverine Sports Club and all other
Detroit area
club members to consider riding in the Livonia - Dearborn Ride of Silence, and
to give Jeff
your full support in promoting and putting this on. Or attend a Ride in one of
the other
locations, and please ask your cycling friends to consider attending a Ride for
2006.

I'll be sending regular emails to Jeff and all the other Mich. coordinators in
2006, on
updates from Chris and the Dallas Board, and to have an open forum on how to
promote
the Mich. Rides, and share our ideas on what went well in 2005, and what we can
do to
improve for 2006. I look forward to working with Jeff in promoting the 2006
Ride.

In Grand Rapids for 2006, sadly we have another area cyclist (not a Rapid
Wheelmen
member) who we will be honoring, Anna Sobie, who was struck and killed this past
Sept. in
Walker while riding with her husband and friends. Her husband and family were
very
grateful that I asked them to attend the 2006 Grand Rapids Ride, and will be
there to ride
with us, in honoring Anna. The Rapid Wheelmen have donated a set of Share the
Road
signs to the City of Walker, that Anna's husband approved, that we stenciled "In
Memory
of Anna", and will be placed on both sides of the road near where Anna was
struck this
spring. If anyone would like additional information about the Ride of Silence,
or starting a
Share the Road program in your area, please feel free to email me.

Thanks so much for you time,

Together, we can make a difference.
Sincerely

Mark Hagar
Membership Chair, Rapid Wheelmen Bike Club of Grand Rapids
membership@...
2006 Colorburst Charity Tour Chairperson
colorburst@...
markpedal1@...
Ride of Silence, Michigan Representative
Ride of Silence, Grand Rapids Coordinator
www.rideofsilence.org