Westside Ride of Silence
Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)
Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a paying subscriber.
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Thanks to those who organized this and a special thanks to Hal Ballard who got those ‘ghost bikes’ around the city. It was a quiet and somber event. I was pleased to see so many bicyclist slowly appear on the corner of Hall and 5th. All types of riders showed up. Racers, commuters, casual riders. Sombering and a great memorial for those killed or injured while riding a bicycle.
The community needed to experience the cycling community in a more somber modality and a good wake up call for those drivers how do not pay attention to their surroundings when in the car.
Thank you again, Hal Ballard, for putting so much thought into this event and taking up the responsibility!
Hal Ballard did a great job leading our modest-sized Westside Ride of Silence. My guess is we had no more than 50 riders for this first ride in our area. I rode the ROS on the Eastside last year and the overall spirit of the ride was the same on this side of the river.
We were accompanied by two Beaverton Policemen riding bicycles…quite different from the full escort given on the Eastside. Two other bicycle police came by – not sure if they tagged on to the end of the ride or not. We were told that the police were there as riders, but that tickets would be given for any unlawful riding.
The ride was well-done and well-received; some drivers waved us through stop signs to keep our group together.
Family members of killed cyclists were at the start and spoke their thanks to the cycling community for being there – it was quite a moving start to the ride.