Ride of Silence

Today Arik and I did the Ride of Silence around White Rock Lake, a ride in memory of bicyclists killed on the road and in support of increasing awareness of bikers. My mom fashioned us some makeshift black armbands out of an old belt, and those who'd survived wrecks with cars wore red armbands- we saw a few of those. We were a bit late getting started so we had to get a lil speedy to catch up to the group. We caught up about 15 minutes in and it was really something else- as the name suggests, there was absolutely no talking. Curious onlookers lined the road, unsure of what to make of the hundreds of bikers rolling by slowly in silence. The scene was somber and serene- the lake was calm, the sun was going down, and all was quiet but for a smattering of quacks from the ducks. We often had to slow down almost to a complete stop to negotiate some barriers, so it took about an hour and twenty minutes to make it around the lake, but it was nice to enjoy a slow reflective ride. There were quite a few colorful characters: we saw one guy who wore a belt that held 4 what looked like beer cans, and another guy with a bike wheel tatooed on each calf. At the end, we all lined a parking lot on the lake, bagpipes played, and white bikes in memorium of killed cyclists were rolled around. Then we headed up the street to my parents' house, empowered by the numbers we'd just witnessed, but a little more aware of how dangerous sharing (or not sharing, as is often the case in Dallas) the road with cars can be.

Biking along the lake- Dallas skyline on the right

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike