Mourning and celebration for National Bike Week

By David Taber

They will push off from Davis Square’s Seven Hills Park in silence on Wednesday May 16, remaining silent as they pedal their bicycles down Massachusetts Avenue through Cambridge to the Boston Common.  Some will be wearing red armbands to signify they have been injured in collisions with vehicles, and some will wear black, to honor friends   who have been killed by motorists. 

The procession will be one of almost 250 Rides of Silence taking place across the country at the same time to remember the dead and raise awareness about bicycle safety. 

Nationally, the first such ride took place in 2003 in Dallas, Texas.  It was meant to be a one-time event to commemorate the life of Larry Schwartz, who was thrown from his bicycle and killed when swiped by the mirror of a passing bus.  But over the last four years, it has become a regular rite of National Bike Week. 

Samuel Thompson, who has organized the Boston area Ride of Silence for the last two years, said the ride grew mostly through word of mouth. 

“People have read about it in small publications or heard about it from friends of friends of friends,” he said.

Thompson said he was inspired to organize the Boston area’s first Ride of Silence last year after reading about it in Bike Culture Magazine.

In order to reinforce the rides processional nature in contrast with other bicycle rides which are geared toward celebration, riders will be asked to move not faster than 12 miles an hour and to remain silent unless communicating about a potential hazard, Thompson said.

In addition to creating a proper atmosphere for the ride, asking people to be silent is also a way to discourage cyclists from expressing negative feelings they may be harboring toward motorists during the ride, Thompson said. 

“People could potentially not be feeling to positively toward motorists on the ride.  We want to encourage people not to be too aggressive,” Thompson said.

David Watson, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike) said it is important for motorists to understand they are sharing the road with cyclists.
“I think it’s important for every vehicle on the roads to realize cyclists are there and to look out for us,” Watson said. 

And Peter Collins, Advocacy Director for MassBike said efforts to increase awareness are particularly important as environmental concerns and rising gas prices drive more people to self-propelled two-wheel transportation.  “With a change over in the transportation sector, or any sector, it takes time to change over the mind set,” Collins said.

While Watson supports the ride, and his organization’s main purpose is to advocate for a safer cycling environment, bicycling is already a relatively safe means of transportation, he said. 

“I actually think that the danger is significantly overblown.  If you look at things in terms of absolute numbers, the number of bicyclists killed or injured is actually very small,” he said.

Data collected by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health puts the number of cyclists hospitalized as a result of collisions with motor vehicles between 2002 and 2004 at 467.  This is only .028 percent of the 16,178 motor vehicle-related accidents recorded for those years, although the highest rate of hospitalizations.  2,245, or 13 percent of injuries requiring hospitalization were of pedestrians, and 11,023 or 68 percent were of vehicle occupants. 

The Department of Public Health data also identified 11 cyclist fatalities in motor vehicle accidents during the same time period.  These deaths account for only .007 percent of the 1,536 motor vehicle fatalities recorded in the three years. 

In Somerville there were 85 bicycle crashes, accounting for 2.2 percent of all traffic accidents, between 2002 and 2004.   There was also one bicycle fatality, according to the city’s Safe-Start pedestrian and bicycle safety report, released in November. 

Steven Winslow, the city’s pedestrian and bicycle safety coordinator said the report’s main goal was to identify and make recommendations to improve safety at Somerville’s most dangerous intersections. Twenty-seven intersections were identified in the report and recommendations from repainting crosswalks to installing road spanning gateways to alert motorists as they enter high-density commercial districts were put forward.

Other local events taking place during National Bike Week, which runs from May 12 to 19, include the Metro Boston Bike Week kickoff party at Redbones in Davis Square from Monday from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. Free breakfasts for bicyclists will be served at various restraints and café’s including The Sherman Café in Union Square and the Broken Yolk on College Avenue.

And on Saturday the annual Somerville historical bike ride will launch from the parking lot of city hall at 10:00 a.m. 

This year the ride will visit site of historic interest in Somerville and Medford.  The ride will include a stop at a Medford farmhouse with the only slave quarters still standing in the United States and the Medford house that was the subject of the classic Christmas tune ‘Over the River and through the Woods,’ said Ron Newman, of the Somerville Bicycle Committee.

The bicycle committee is sponsoring the ride along with the Somerville Historic Commission.

For more information about National Bike Week events, visit www.massbike.org         

Comments

[Where's Waldo?]

Where's NEWMIE?!!!!
He should be all over this stuff!!!!!!!!
This is like the holy grail for him!

[Ron Newman]

Did you read the whole article? I'm near the end of it.

("Over the River and Through the Woods", written in Medford, is actually a classic Thanksgiving tune.)

[Ron Newman]

Here's a list of the bicycle breakfasts at various Somerville cafes this week. Show your helmet when you arrive:

Tuesday, May 15: The Broken Yolk, 7:00 a.m.- 9:00 a.m, 136 College Avenue (Powderhouse Cirlce). Free small coffee and muffin or bagel with cream cheese.

Wednesday, May 16: The Sherman Café, 7:00 a.m.- 9:00 a.m., 257 Washington Street (Union Square). Free small coffee and muffin or bagel with cream cheese.

Thursday, May 17: True Grounds, 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m., 715 Broadway (Ball Square). Free small coffee with purchase of a pastry or bagel/bagel sandwich.

Friday, May 18: Toscanini and Sons, 7:00-9:00 a.m., 406 Washington Street (at Beacon Street). Free small coffee.

[Somers_Get_the_Shaft]

While we observe National Bike Week here in Somerville, we also might ponder why rogue cyclists who ride on our squares' sidewalks, cut pedestrians off in crosswalks and fail to observe red lights aren't held to account. These clowns give cycling a bad name, and pose serious threats
to public safety.

The Somerville Bike Committee, to its credit, admonishes local cyclists to observe public safety laws, but it's a losing cause, since so
many of these rogue cyclists just do as they please, without fear of correction.

Even as City Hall ballyhoos its latest efforts on behalf of pedestrian safety, it looks the other way when it comes to enforcement.

When some Grand Poobah gets seriously clobbered by a rogue cyclist--THEN they'll hop to it!

Meanwhile, pedestrians, walk here at your own peril...

[Kate]

A cyclist was hit by a motor vehicle, on Holland Street, today;
fortunately, the cyclist was not killed.

[Too bad, but-----]

I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. The way cyclists have come at me, entering traffic from a one-way street (coming the wrong way), without even pausing is amazing. They need to obey the rules of the road, and only about 2% of them do. The only group worse is pedestrians!

[Solh Zendeh]

It does annoy me when I see them running red lights, not signaling, and just being plain idiots. On the other hand, please consider the fact that they are not piloting a 2 ton machine that can easily kill someone with a moments inattention. I think I'll advocate coming down hard on cyclists when we come down hard on car drivers who:
don't signal
talk on the phone while driving
don't know that the left lane is the passing lane

In other word, until you completely and radically change the driving culture of the united states, I'm not going to expect too much from people who bike around - at least they aren't killing people left and right (er, besides themselves - and maybe that's ok).

[SomerCitizen]

Hear hear, Solh Zendeh. Well said!

[cyclists]

Actually cyclists can and sometimes do cause death and/or serious injury because of inattention and/or flouting of the laws. And unfortunately, all too often they are seen as the 'innocent victim' whether or not the incident was caused by them running a red light, or trying to pass cars in traffic. The roads are too busy for them not to be more aware of their surroundings.

[Derek]

No one is asking you, as drivers, to do anything other than be aware of cyclists and respect the fact that cyclists have a legal right to the road. Maybe take a peak into the bike lane before swinging your car door open - you know? I think it's impossible to post anything relating to bicycles without eliciting some canned "cyclists break laws" responses.

You know what I think? I think drivers are just jealous. We don't have to wait in traffic, we can cross safely at some red lights, we have a legal right to enter many one way streets... All bonuses of chosing a method of tranportation that doesn't require piloting a 2 ton piece of metal at high rates of speed amongst thousands of other 2 ton pieces of metal.

[Ron Newman]

For obvious reasons, tonight's ride was cancelled. It may be rescheduled for later this month. If it is, I'll post the new date here.

If there is steady rain Saturday morning, we will postpone the Somerville-Medford History Ride to Sunday morning at 10 am.

[Wrong!]

And noone is asking you, as cyclists to do anything but be aware of motorists and of the rules of the road. "We don't have to wait in traffic, we can cross safely at some red lights, we have a legal right to enter many one way streets." - WRONG! Bicyclists must follow the same rules of traffic as motor vehicles. This is why drivers resent bicyclists, not jealousy.

[Derek]

Oh, so there are no bike lanes that allow bikers to pass cars lined up for miles on the right? There are no counter-flow bike lanes that go down one way streets (see Park & Beacon)?

In addition, court rulings have found that cyclists are allowed to use cross walks. I can cross many intersections in the cross walk while you are in line at the light.

So to you I say, "WRONG!"

I fully acknowledge that there are cyclists who do not follow the rules of the road to the letter (and that I am one on occasion), and that there are cyclists that operate their bicycles in a manner unsafe to themselves and other traffic (and that I am never one of those on purpose). The same can be said of basically every driver. So just watch out when you open your damn door, and don't speed up to pass me just so you can bang an immediate right. Thanks.

[Ron Newman]

The Ride of Silence has been rescheduled for Tuesday, May 22, starting at 6:45 pm from Seven Hills Park in Davis Square.

With considerable regret, the Somerville Bicycle Committee and the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission have cancelled this weekend's Somerville-Medford Historical Ride. The weather forecast for both Saturday and Sunday is just too dismal. We will try to reschedule this ride for some time in June.

[Kate]

Ron - was there a large turnout, last night?

[Ron Newman]

Sorry, I don't know. Unfortunately, the Ride of Silence conflicted with a Bicycle Committee meeting which I had to attend.

We rescheduled the Somerville-Medford History Ride for Saturday, June 23. Meet at 10 am at Somerville City Hall.