Somber pedal set to honor cycling fatalities

The annual Ride of Silence in central Arkansas will end on the steps of the state Capitol.
The annual Ride of Silence in central Arkansas will end on the steps of the state Capitol.

Tonight we number many but ride as one

In honor of those not with us, friends, mothers, fathers, sisters, sons.

-- Mike Murgas,

"The Ride of Silence"

Since the first Ride of Silence was held at White Rock Lake in Dallas in 2003, here and there around the world, cyclists have lined up quietly on the third Wednesday in May for parades honoring people killed while riding a bicycle.

"In Little Rock we start on South Main and bike through downtown to end up at the Capitol," says Mason Ellis, an architect who is president of Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas. "It's all in complete silence as we ride through town, and then we read off the names of the cyclists who were killed in Arkansas the previous year.

"There's an official 'Ride of Silence' poem that is read in their memory. It's a pretty somber mood as we ride through town."

Tom Ezell, a past president of the advocacy group, keeps track of cycling fatalities, and Ellis also searches the archives of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for reports.

"Since our last Ride of Silence, as far as we can tell, there has only been one death," Ellis says.

Douglas Alton Foreman, 63, of Mountain Home died between 10:55 and 11:15 p.m. Nov. 2 during his familiar evening ride on rural roads. Investigators told the Baxter Bulletin they think he was hit head-on by a driver who crossed the center line on Old Military Road. The driver fled the scene.

Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery told the Democrat-Gazette on Thursday that he has one investigator assigned to the case; there is a reward in excess of $5,000 for information leading to an arrest of the person or persons responsible for Foreman's death; and tips continue to come in from the public. "We have followed up well in excess of about 150 leads to this point," Montgomery said.

"We feel confident that we are going to solve this case."

Foreman worked for Baxter Regional Medical Center as a registered diagnostic cardiac sonographer.

Ellis says thinking about the dead during the Ride of Silence gives everyone pause. But the reality of tragedies isn't a reason to quit trying to encourage more people to ride bicycles on the streets, he said. "It's a reason to make them safer and a reason to make them better."

"Look at car fatalities," he says. Arkansas ranks high among the states in data collected by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System. In 2014, for instance, the state ranked 11th in fatalities by population, a rate of 15.7 deaths per 100,000 people. There's no such thing as a 0.7 death, but the point is Arkansans die in cars.

"Now, I doubt you're going to get many people who say, 'Well, I'm not going to drive anymore.' Same thing with cycling," Ellis says. "It is dangerous, and there are fatalities, but that's not the reason to give up this healthy exercise choice, this activity that a lot of people love and also this alternative means of transportation that a lot of people rely on to actually get around.

"The goal shouldn't be taking a step back and saying, 'Well, maybe we shouldn't do this.' Our goal should be 'How can we make this safer, and how can we make this more convenient and how can we fix these problems?'"

HEARTFELT WORDS

The Ride of Silence began in Dallas on May 21, 2003, as an informal memorial staged by friends of an endurance rider named Larry Schwartz. Schwartz had died after being clipped by the sideview mirror of a passing bus.

His friends, including personal trainer Chris Phelan, sent out emails asking riders to meet them at White Rock Lake to pedal around the lake slowly in his honor.

About 1,000 people turned out.

Mike Murgas, author of the poem "The Ride of Silence," was in that first crowd.

"I'm an avid cyclist and runner," he told the Democrat-Gazette on Thursday. For years he has spent most of his free time -- he's vice president of Channels and Global Account Strategy for Allen Systems Group in Dallas -- riding or running at White Rock. He calls it "the hub" of recreational activity for the Dallas metroplex, and he said he has gotten to know a great many people who also play there.

"The group becomes a second family and someone who shares your good times, bad times, joy and sorrow," he said. "As in any family, when a member is involved in a tragic accident, it impacts the family, and as a friend, I feel the need to share my thoughts and prayers."

Although he didn't know Schwartz, he found riding among the mourners "very moving."

"The second year, I decided to take my camera instead and capture the event in photos. I had a friend who also was taking pictures. We were going through the photos, and I was moved to start writing down some lines of how I felt.

"I am not a poet and had no intention of writing a poem or song, but the words just flowed directly from my heart and feelings," Murgas said.

Murgas shared the poem with Phelan, who added it to the website he had started after hearing from cyclists around the country that they had been inspired to hold memorial events.

Reading Murgas' poem aloud has become a tradition in Little Rock's Ride of Silence.

ActiveStyle on 05/16/2016

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