Pittsburgh Ride of Silence 2006

This page contains some photos and a brief ride report on the Pittsburgh Ride of Silence on May 17, 2006. The Ride of Silence is a silent slow-paced ride (max. 12 mph/20 kph) in honor of those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways.

Until a few days beforehand, there was no Pittsburgh Ride of Silence, but Sarah organized the event via the Critical Mass mailing list; she did a really nice job of communicating the plan, selecting and mapping the route, she provided armbands and placards for the bikes, and gave us a good briefing before the ride to make sure we were operating in the Ride of Silence spirit.

More photos at Pittsburgh.IndyMedia.Org

The ride formed up at Dippy the Dinosaur, at the Carnegie Museum in Oakland, which is the Pittsburgh Critical Mass starting point. We were caught in a rainstorm at 6:30, but it passed after a good soaking. We put on our armbands and placards, Sarah gave us a briefing about riding silently, and we were off.

The placard I was given honored Daisuke Kobayashi, a 22 year old Japanese tourist on an intercontinental bike ride who was killed on Route 30. Post-Gazette Story / Trib-Review Story

Our group leader (below, with the Terry Darvis placard) did a great job of setting the pace and stopping at the lights. As soon as we started, riding silently as a group in traffic, I realized how much I usually speak while riding in a group. Among other things, when nobody calls out "braking" or "on your right" you really have to anticipate what's up.

The group was excellent, considerate riders who knew what they were doing. Riders in the front of the group were "corking" in intersections to make sure the group got through safely. There was a wide range of bicycles, with road bikes, mountain bikes, hybrids, commuters, and fixies. I was really impressed watching one rider using his right foot against his rear wheel for a brake, I hadn't seen that before. There were a few awesome trackstands.

Our start was delayed because of the downpour, and as the evening turned dark the size of the group dwindled. I left the group at 8:45 as it rode through Gateway Center heading for Southside, because I had a graveyard shift that started at 10:30. I followed another rider back to Oakland via the Jail Trail and Panther Hollow, which I'd never ridden through before. I got off the bike at 9:15 and went to work; this was a very enjoyable ride.

This was a well-conducted ride, and the group was really disciplined in honoring the "ride of silence" theme. It gave me a brief appreciation of what a vow of silence might be like. Maybe we raised a little visibility, and it was good to support a legit bicycling cause. Kudos to Sarah for taking the lead on organizing the ride and doing such a good job.

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