http://ozarkspub.vo.llnwd.net/o37/KSMU/audio/mp3/rideofsile_2032.mp3
Bicyclists will take to the road tonight (5/16) to raise awareness of their legal right to the public roadways. Michele Skalicky reports.
Bicyclists will meet tonight (5/16) in downtown Springfield for a 12-mile ride called the Ride of Silence. They'll be joined in cities across the globe by bicyclists riding for a common cause.
"It's a memorial ride for bicyclists that have been killed or injured on the roadways. It also serves to try to raise awareness to the public about bicyclists to ask that they share the road with bicyclists."
The Ride of Silence was organized in Dallas in 2003 after endurance cyclist Larry Schwartz was hit and killed by the mirror of a passing bus.
Sandi West organized the local ride 3 years ago. She doesn't own a car—her primary mode of transportation since 2001 has been a bicycle.
She says Springfield is doing somewhat OK as far as being bicycle friendly, but there's a lot of room for improvement.
"There has been, just in the years since I've been bicycling, there has been improvements in Springfield, but there's still a lot more to do. A lot of it has to do with educating motorists, letting them know that bicyclists have a legal right to be on the streets. A lot of motorists don't know that. They think that, when they see a bicyclist riding the street, a very common thing is for them to yell out the window, 'get on the sidewalk' because they think that's where a bicyclist should be riding, and actually it's against the law for a bicyclist to ride on the sidewalk in a business district."
West says bicyclists have a responsibility, too, to learn the rules of the road and to learn to ride defensively. A bike education class called "Road One," sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists, is offered several times a year in Springfield.
West decided to organize a local Ride of Silence after several close calls on her bicycle.
"I want to do whatever I can to help increase safety and decrease the likelihood of someone getting injured while riding their bicycle."
Riders should meet tonight (5/16) at 6:30 in the parking lot north of Park Central Square at Boonville and Olive. Participants will ride in silence and will ride no more than 12 miles per hour.
For more information, go to www.rideofsilence.org.
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