Ride of Silence 2007

The Ride of Silence was established in 2003 to commemorate the death of a cyclist who was struck and killed by a bus. Since then, it has grown to become an international event, and it made its first appearance in Philadelphia last year.

I did the ride last year with a friend from work, and were both impressed and awed by the sight of several hundred cyclists riding through Center City Philadelphia, completely silent, escorted by a large group of city police. When we heard the ride was coming back this year, we decided to go, and spread the word to friends and coworkers. We were convinced that with the huge turnout last year, this year would be a truly massive event.

What we didn't count on was the Wrath Of God (tm) thunderstorms that rolled into town on the heels of severe thunderstorm warnings, keeping most of the folks away. We decided the purpose of the ride was noble, and it was worth getting a little wet, so we went anyway, joining about 30 other cyclists.

We all got soaking wet, it got a bit chilly, and they truncated the planned 7 mile route down to about 1 mile, but it was still pretty cool to see.