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Our 2022 Chicago Ride of Silence returns in-person

5/20/2022

Despite rainy weather all day, the skies cleared and we had 100+ riders turnout for a solemn ride around the downtown area to highlight the crash sites of 3 of the 10 fatalities from this past year. Most of the local news stations also showed up and aired coverage of the Ride. Thank you to the organizations that sponsored the Ride this year and helped make it happen - Active Transportation Alliance, Streetsblog Chicago, FK Law. And thanks always to our ongoing friends and supporters - Keating Law (Illinois Bicycle Law), Ashland Addison Florist, Chicago Cycling Club, Vision Zero Chicago, Chicago SAFE Ambassadors, Chicago Bike Patrol Officers, and Ride Illinois.

Media Coverage of the night-of:
https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-ride-of-silence-bike-lanes-bikes-cyclists/11866339/

h ttps://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/chicago-ride-of-silence-honors-cyclists-injured-killed/

https://www.nbcchicago.com/top-videos-home/chicago-vigil-remembers-bikers-killed-in-past-year/2836449

https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/05/20/ride-of-silence-honors-bicyclists-killed-by-drivers-in-deadly-year-for-chicago-riders/

LINKS TO PHOTOS:
From the Ride Leader/Organizer Perspective:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8756285@N06/albums/72177720299092668www.flickr.com/photos/8756285@N06/albums/72177720299092668

From the Active Transportation Alliance:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/activetransportationalliance/albums/72177720299087612www.flickr.com/photos/activetransportationalliance/albums/72177720299087612

2022 Chicago Ride of Silence Route

Our 2019 Chicago Ride of Silence Route

5/14/2019

The Chicago Ride of Silence will gather at 6pm and depart at 6:30pm from Daley Plaza.
Thank you to the CPD's Bike Patrol officers who will support this event.

The Ride concludes at Keating Law Office at 825 Milwaukee with snacks and refreshments, plus opportunities to connect with the advocacy of the Active Transportation Alliance and Vision Zero Chicago.

All are welcome.

2019 Chicago Ride of Silence remembers...

5/13/2019

Since the 2018 Ride of Silence, there have been 5 known fatalities on the City of Chicago's streets.

This year’s 2019 Chicago Ride of Silence will follow a route centralized around the city center, to both further emphasize the efforts of the Vision Zero Downtown campaign and to highlight the cycling and pedestrian fatalities from the past year in this area.

This year we especially remember ...

Raul Ortiz-Gomez - 6/13/18 - age 41 - https://chi.streetsblog.org/2018/06/15/driver-fatally-struck-cyclist-raul-ortiz-gomez-41-in-west-town/

Luster Jackson - 7/28/18 - age 58 - https://chi.streetsblog.org/2018/07/31/cyclist-killed-on-stony-island-where-alderman-hairston-blocked-protected-lanes/

Angela Park - 8/9/18 - age 39 - https://chi.streetsblog.org/2018/08/09/right-turning-dump-truck-driver-fatally-struck-female-cyclist-39-in-greektown/

Jimmy Lispier - 8/23/18 - age 42 - https://chi.streetsblog.org/2018/08/30/hit-and-run-driver-fatally-struck-cyclist-jimmy-lispier-42-in-west-humboldt-park/

Jesse Rodriguez - 9/23/18 - age 67 - https://chi.streetsblog.org/2018/09/24/hit-and-run-driver-kills-67-year-old-man-near-north-shore-channel-trail/

We ride on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, in unity with cyclists around the world to honor all of our fallen everywhere and advocate for safer roads for all road users. All are welcome to join us at 6:30pm at Daley Plaza this Wednesday.

Reflections on the 2018 Chicago Ride of Silence

5/17/2018

In the midst of a busy Wednesday evening in downtown Chicago, silence and stillness awaited the approximate 100 bicyclists who participated in the 2018 Chicago Ride of Silence.

For the first time ever, a professional photographer inspired by the Ride's cause volunteered to capture the event with a group photo of the participants at Daley Plaza just before the ride departed. The way this Ride touches the community - beyond bicyclists - is a testament to the power this annual Ride can make in the community.

This year's Chicago ROS partnered with the City's Vision Zero Chicago initiative to further raise awareness of steps being taken at the city level to eliminate traffic crashes that cause death and serious injury on the roadways. The route took cyclists to the West Side where Vision Zero launched in June 2017. As the long line of cyclists paraded in silence down Randolph Street, onlookers took pause at the silent 'funeral-like' procession. Riders stopped to reflect at the ghost bike of Louis Ray Smith on Homan Avenue before heading back east to the West Town area to visit Lisa Kuivinen's bike on Milwaukee Avenue. The Ride traversed streets identified as high crash corridors to draw attention to these areas where using the road can be more dangerous.

Post-Ride participants signed the Vision Zero Chicago pledge and learned how Vision Zero aims to achieve its goals citywide through the equitable distribution of resources and inclusive community engagement. The Chicago community's cyclists came together on May 16, 2018 in a united effort that seeks safer roadways for all.

For photos of this year's Ride of Silence see:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmkGmUns
tps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aH_BAAev1XQ (4:26)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kastigar/albums/72157669110757468
https://www.relive.cc/view/1577101182

Thank you to Mike Oboza, volunteer photographer, for helping document candid moments of our 13th anniversary of the Chicago Ride Of Silence:

Our 2018 Chicago Ride of Silence Route

5/15/2018

We cannot visit or list all the memorial ghost bike sites and names on this year's route map; join us online to learn more -- rideofsilence.org/chicago | ghostbikeschicago.com

Chicago ROS 2017 In the News and Photos

8/9/2017

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2017 Chicago Ride of Silence. We had about 100 attendees and countless riders with us in spirit as we visited ghost bikes and commemorated the memories of our fallen.

Following are links to photos we took the night-of the event and several reports from participants. If you have photos or a blog post you'd like us to highlight here, please contact us.

A recap on The Chainlink: http://www.thechainlink.org/profiles/blogs/ride-of-silence-in-chicago-5-17-2017-1
Relive "Ride of Silence" Chicago (shared by Bob): https://www.relive.cc/view/993575139
Chicago Ride of Silence's photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm5uSMM6

Our 2017 Chicago Ride of Silence Route

5/16/2017

Copies of this map and cue sheet will be available the night-of at Daley Plaza.

Chicago Ride of Silence: Reflections from the Organizer

5/21/2016

(Originally published via the League of American Bicyclists on May 17, 2016)

Ghost bikes. Those stark white bikes that stand as memorials alongside a roadway to honor a cyclist who was killed in a crash.

In Chicago ghost bikes dot our urban landscape and serve both to remind us of our fragility as cyclists and to rally us to advocate for safer roads for all road users.

Each May as the annual Ride of Silence rolls out in cities around the world, these local ghost bikes give life to the Chicago Ride of Silence. (See photos of the 2015 Chicago ROS here.)

The organizer of the first ever Ride of Silence in Dallas, TX, in 2003, never intended for the Ride to become an annual event. However, the silence “roared” beyond Dallas and soon other cities wanted to host a similar memorial ride to honor their own fallen cyclists. In the spring of 2005, after my first year of bike commuting in Chicago, I felt compelled to start an ROS in Chicago. After too many near-miss crashes with motorists, I wanted an event that would call attention to motorists of the need to share the roads with cyclists. I also wanted to help give a voice to those cyclists I knew who had been killed or injured.

By 2006, I was the organizer of the Chicago Ride of Silence and learning what it means to be an advocate. Also in 2006 Chicago installed its first ever ghost bike for Isai Medina. The connection could not be ignored, and the Chicago Ride of Silence route has always been tied to the ghost bikes. The ghost bikes personalize the Ride for many and give the Ride a distinctive resonance that calls each of us to rally on behalf of our fallen comrades.

Over the years, the number and location of ghost bikes has varied. Some bikes endure years after being placed at a site; other bikes fall into disrepair and remain only a short time. Sometimes no bike is placed. Fellow cyclists have organized Ghost Bike Rides and have helped the ghost bikes live on virtually.

While the Ride of Silence is not a Ghost Bike Ride, I have met many of the victims' friends and families. When a new ghost bike is placed, the route of that year's Chicago ROS often changes to incorporate the newly placed bike. Unfortunately the route in this one single night cannot visit the locations of each of the ghost bikes now spanning the city. Yet after each year's Ride, as I mused last year, I appreciate the community spirit that inspires the Chicago ROS because “our Ride and route honors all of the fallen cyclists throughout the years and we hope that the sentiment of this Ride carries into all reaches of the city.”

I recently spoke with a colleague who was struck by an aggressive motorist who side-swiped her during her commute home last week. The motorist tried to pass her with too little room and struck her. She expressed such gratitude to me — thankful that her injuries weren't worse and for the support she has felt from the community. Then she pointed me to the Be Kind to Cyclists campaign, and its message echoes my own passions. I listened, and my heart leapt with new hope and inspiration to continue to carry forth the message of the Chicago Ride of Silence and to be that voice for hurt and injured cyclists who are survivors and for the deceased victims and their families.

As we ride — not just on this third Wednesday evening in May but with every ride — we must respect our fellow road users. The annual worldwide Ride of Silence serves as a reminder to all we encounter on our daily travels that our roads are meant to be shared. In the universal Ride of Silence, the silence speaks volumes — we honor ALL cyclists who have fallen, and we ride to be a positive voice for cyclists' safety everywhere.

Before last year's Ride of Silence, I shared my thoughts about the importance of this annual event – that the Ride is to “celebrate the lost lives of our fellow cyclists who died doing something they loved — riding their bike.” Their memories and the connections to their loved ones remain etched in my heart forever. Their legacy is a shared part of my ride today and everyday.

Elizabeth Adamczyk, League Cycling Instructor #3731, regularly commutes to work by bike and aspires to inspire and educate more people — especially women via Women Bike Chicago — of the joy of bicycles; she would like to thank her parents who have always supported her, especially their help with the Chicago Ride Silence to make it the community event it is.

Our 2016 Route - Please Join Us

5/17/2016

Thank you!

5/30/2015

The 2015 annual Ride of Silence was exactly 10 days ago but the memories and gratitude and sense of community remain. Despite the rainy, chilly conditions on the evening of Wednesday, May 20, over 50 bicyclists showed up at Daley Plaza (and a few more joined along the way) to ride in silent procession to five of the ghost bikes in Chicago. Our Ride and route honors all of the fallen cyclists throughout the years and we hope that the sentiment of this Ride carries into all reaches of the city.

Thank you to everyone who showed up to ride on May 20, to all who offered support and to all who contributed in your own way (in thought, in donation, in spirit). The Ride of Silence embodies community and calls for the community to come together -- as it continues to do every year on the third Wednesday evening in May. This Ride is for the community. It is a memorial, a tribute, a legacy of those who have died while riding their bike on the roadways. We strive toward Vision Zero, that no loss of life on our roadways is acceptable. Chicago is still seeking support from its political leadership for its own comprehensive Vision Zero strategy.

Six of Chicago's bike patrol officers rode with us and kept us safe throughout our 10-mile procession; like a funeral procession these officers shepherded all in our cortege.

Thank you also to all who generously donated of their time and talents toward this year's Chicago Ride of Silence. We appreciate the generosity of the community and all who donated monetarily. A full list of our supporters is on this site.

If you would like to help with future events and with next year's Ride of Silence, please contact us and/or subscribe to our mailing list.

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