Welcome to the 21st anniversary of the Chicago Ride of Silence... we in Chicago have been riding in silent solidarity with cyclists around the world since 2005. And we will continue to ride as long as we suffer these tragedies on our roads.
Thank you for gathering as community this evening. If you have not yet done so, please sign and register. Please also grab a map/cue sheet.
We still have pins and stickers with the original Ride of Silence logo… available while they last. All donations support our website and updating our promotional materials. There is a QR code to donate as well. You may order a jersey or tech tee with the new Ride of Silence logo. We created it to also incorporate the original logo as well on the left sleeve.
Tonight we honor recent and previous fatalities AND a crash victim who is still recovering.
We will ride in silent tribute ... pausing at each crash location, where we will place a white rose and a candle. At sites without a ghost bike, we will also place a small 3-D printed white ghost bike. Please refer to your map/cue sheet which shows our stops.
While we cannot visit every crash site, we invite you to visit our website for the full list of our fallen.
Our route will start by going south to Balbo and then pass the crash site at Michigan and Randolph -- the first fatality following last year's Ride of Silence. We will conclude at Monochrome Brewing in Pilsen, where we will pause again to pay honor two more crash victims from this past year:
Then, we invite everyone for a post-ride gathering at Monochrome Brewing. Please stay for refreshments and camaraderie.
Thank you to the Active Transportation Alliance and FK Law who helped make this event possible again this year. We are grateful for the support of Chicago's SAFE Ambassadors in the green vests and staff from Active Transportation Alliance in yellow vests; they will serve as our official ride marshalls. They are here to keep us safe as a group tonight, so please heed their guidance. Thank you also to Ashland Addison florist for the white roses and carnations.
(pause)
Some guidelines:
I will be at the lead and Ted will be at the rear of the group pulling the trailer with the Ride of Silence sign. We ask that no one get ahead of me at the lead of the ride or behind Ted at the back.
Tonight, we gather in community, some of us crash survivors … all of us here in support of each other.
Tonight is a time of shared community, shared silence, shared sadness, shared joy, shared roads.
As we do each year before we depart, I ask you to bow your heads as I will now read the Ride of Silence poem by Mike Murgas:
Tonight we number many but ride as one
In honor of those not with us, friends, mothers, fathers, sisters, sons
With helmets on tight and heads down low,
We ride in silence, cautious and slow
The wheels start spinning in the lead pack
But tonight we ride and no one attacks
The dark sunglasses cover our tears
Remembering those we held so dear
Tonight's ride is to make others aware
The road is there for all to share
To those not with us or by our side,
May God be your partner on your final ride
- Mike Murgas
Thank you for gathering as community this evening. If you have not yet done so, please sign and register. Please also grab a map/cue sheet.
We still have pins and stickers with the original Ride of Silence logo… available while they last. All donations support our website and updating our promotional materials. There is a QR code to donate as well. You may order a jersey or tech tee with the new Ride of Silence logo. We created it to also incorporate the original logo as well on the left sleeve.
Tonight we honor recent and previous fatalities AND a crash victim who is still recovering.
We will ride in silent tribute ... pausing at each crash location, where we will place a white rose and a candle. At sites without a ghost bike, we will also place a small 3-D printed white ghost bike. Please refer to your map/cue sheet which shows our stops.
While we cannot visit every crash site, we invite you to visit our website for the full list of our fallen.
Our route will start by going south to Balbo and then pass the crash site at Michigan and Randolph -- the first fatality following last year's Ride of Silence. We will conclude at Monochrome Brewing in Pilsen, where we will pause again to pay honor two more crash victims from this past year:
- Dr. Bob Hsuing - an ardent Chicago Cycling Club member who died while bike touring in Japan last August. His last organized ride in Chicago was to Monochrome Brewing in early August.
- Damian Gomez - who died in early April while riding at 63rd and Kedzie.
Then, we invite everyone for a post-ride gathering at Monochrome Brewing. Please stay for refreshments and camaraderie.
Thank you to the Active Transportation Alliance and FK Law who helped make this event possible again this year. We are grateful for the support of Chicago's SAFE Ambassadors in the green vests and staff from Active Transportation Alliance in yellow vests; they will serve as our official ride marshalls. They are here to keep us safe as a group tonight, so please heed their guidance. Thank you also to Ashland Addison florist for the white roses and carnations.
(pause)
Some guidelines:
I will be at the lead and Ted will be at the rear of the group pulling the trailer with the Ride of Silence sign. We ask that no one get ahead of me at the lead of the ride or behind Ted at the back.
Tonight, we gather in community, some of us crash survivors … all of us here in support of each other.
Tonight is a time of shared community, shared silence, shared sadness, shared joy, shared roads.
As we do each year before we depart, I ask you to bow your heads as I will now read the Ride of Silence poem by Mike Murgas:
Tonight we number many but ride as one
In honor of those not with us, friends, mothers, fathers, sisters, sons
With helmets on tight and heads down low,
We ride in silence, cautious and slow
The wheels start spinning in the lead pack
But tonight we ride and no one attacks
The dark sunglasses cover our tears
Remembering those we held so dear
Tonight's ride is to make others aware
The road is there for all to share
To those not with us or by our side,
May God be your partner on your final ride
- Mike Murgas
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