BIKEIOWA NOTE: THANKS to KCCI for the coverage. This is the awareness we need!
We'll have our photo gallery, videos and drone footage posted early next week.
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“We all need to look out for each other, whether we’re in a motor vehicle, on a bicycle, or a pedestrian just crossing the street,” said a bicyclist.
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Dozens of bicyclists came out to the East Village Wednesday for BikeIowa’s twenty-first annual Ride of Silence to honor people injured or killed while riding bikes, while also using it as a call to action for safer streets.
The international event began just outside of the State Historical Building on Wednesday. People came out with their riding gear on and their bicycles nearby. BikeIowa’s founder, Scott Sumpter, began the event, taking a moment to read the names and situations of people on bicycles who were either injured or killed when hit by a driver over the last several years.
“Ride of Silence is a worldwide event. It started in 2003 out of Dallas, Texas,” said Sumpter. “Six events in Iowa and Des Moines is one of them. Des Moines was the first one to start it back in 2005. That year, we had three folks from Central Iowa die on the bicycle.”
The seven to eight mile ride is always a way for bicyclists to come together and talk about current achievements, as well as what they would like to see done to make the roads safer for everyone.
“We’re one of six states that does not have a safe passing law,” said Sumpter. “We’re going to put forth—with the Bike Coalition—put forth some hard effort to try to get that passed.”
“We all need to look out for each other, whether we’re in a motor vehicle, on a bicycle, or a pedestrian just crossing the street,” said Larry Loss, a board member with the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. “We all have to pay attention to our surroundings.”