sharing the road

Ride of Silence Rolls Through Missoula Wednesday

By Matthew Frank, 5-19-08

Cyclists will convene at Caras Park in downtown Missoula Wednesday for the Ride of Silence, an event in cities worldwide aimed at honoring those who have been injured or killed by motor vehicles on public roadways, raising awareness of cyclists and pedestrians, and promoting the concept that all road users must share the road and take responsibility for safety.

Event director Monica LaBarge says the ride is the opposite of Critical Mass, the loosely organized take-over of city streets by cyclists. “The point is not to aggravate people,” she says. Instead, the ride is “to really show we can all get along.”

Participants should meet at Caras Park at 6:45 p.m. The slow, four-mile loop through the city will begin at 7:00. (See a map of the route below.) All riders must wear a helmet and obey all traffic laws.

For LaBarge, the ride will honor a close friend killed by a logging truck in Oregon. “It’s important for me to raise that awareness because she’s gone,” she said. “She loved to ride and she’d want us to keep riding.”

The Ride of Silence was first organized in 2003 by Chris Phelan in Dallas, Texas to honor endurance cyclist Larry Schwartz, who died after being struck by the mirror of a passing bus on an otherwise empty road. Since then, it has expanded to include rides in nearly 300 cities around the world. More information is available at www.rideofsilence.org.

The event is coordinated locally by the Bike/Walk Alliance of Missoula (BWAM), a non-profit, member-driven organization created to improve the safety, health and enjoyment of the Five Valley area by promoting and enhancing bicycling and walking for everyday transportation and recreation.

Route map, courtesy of BWAM

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