Hello all,

Chris Phelan and I have beencommunicating regularly He's been
including me on some emails to andfrom Judith Jolly, whom I assumed was
a fellow board member, based onall the work she's doing for the
Ride.Judithis helping get the locations on their website (growing daily)
andcontacting UK clubs. I had emailed her to ask if she needed
helpincontacting the UK clubs and if she would follow up on an emailI
sent to Directors of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (my homestate,
that only had a couple of Rides last year, and none listed so far this
year). After Sat's. email reply, well, please read her reply
below.

If you haven't made up your mind about riding in the Ride of Silence, I
hope this is the final motivator..... Please join us in this year's
Ride, currently 18 locations in Mich, with hopefully a few more
locations to be added soon. (chris phelan started the Ride of Silence
when his friend endurance cyclist larry schwartz was struck and killed
by a passing bus outside of dallas)

markpedal

Mark Hagar
markpedal1@...
Ride of Silence, 2006 Grand Rapids Coordinator
Ride of Silence, Michigan Director
http://www.rideofsilence.org

Hi Mark,

I will follow up with the Mass Bike Coalition. We really appreciate all
the work you have done in Michigan.

Ihave finished with contacting all the possible links for UK bike
clubs,as well as NZ and Australia, and of course Canada! (I'm Canadian!)
I amgoing to work on translating my message into French, and get
themessage out to French speaking countries (I'm fluent in French). I
havealso contacted my family in The Netherlands to try to get some
contactsthere.

I am not on the board, but the Ride Of Silencehas personal meaning for
me. Larry Schwartz was my fiancée. We had beentogether for almost 7
years when the bus driver hit him with the mirrorof the bus, and left
him to die in the ditch. I am working hardto get as many rides possible,
and get the message out. I want to savelives and prevent others from
going through what I went through.

Also,I have time. I married in April (to one of Larry's best friends)
and wehave a son, Andrew Lawrence Bengston, who is 5 months old. When
hesleeps, I can work on this. My other job is very part time (15 hours
aweek, which I do from home most of the time). My new husband is
verysupportive of this event, and knows how important it is to keep
Larry'smemory alive, and to help save more lives.

Thanks for all you have done!

Judith


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