Ben, Ken, and I rolled out for Chicago's annual Ride of Silence. (Ben took the photo.) I have to say, being part of it was powerful. There had to be more than 100 riders, and we went down high pedestrian traffic streets. But seeing it ride by was... confusing?
See, here's the problem with "silence" stuff- people don't hear what you're saying. One cyclist rode up to the pack in front of me and said, "what are you guys doing?" The person next to him said nothing. After all, it was a ride of silence. He got angry at being ignored, and left.
So, what if this had been a memorial ride of WORDS instead- of ANGER and FEAR and FRUSTRATION expressed instead of silenced? Would the hundreds of people enjoying a meal or a stroll on the lovely evening who saw us ride by have gotten something out of it?
OK, enough of my soapbox. Just food for thought. As a memorial ride, silence works. If the goal is advocacy or education for the public, not so much.
Ran a slow 3 this morning, as I was instructed to do, averaging a 10:20 mile. When I uploaded the workout to training peaks, a popup appeared. "Accept Good Advice!" I had to click OK, though I'm not sure I can.
I'll be on the official's stand at the track again tonight, in full official dress regalia. Forgive the anti-social nature of the gig.
Ridden and Reviewed Kona Libre CR
8 months ago
2 replies:
Couldn't they have just told him quietly?
I wish the Nati had a ride like that...
I did one here in NC; we had about 225 riders show up. I felt the same, a lot of people thought it was a race and were cheering, and making comments like why are you going so slow? Was confusing to a lot of the people we passed.
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