Scores of local citizens will mount bicycles and strap on helmets on Wednesday, May 17 at 6:30 pm in front of the Osborn Aquatic Center in Corvallis. The usual excitement of a group of cyclists taking a short spin around town will be tempered for this one evening, however.
This will be a ride of silence to honor cyclists who have been injured or killed, to raise awareness of the numbers of people who ride bikes and to ask that all share the road.
The international Ride of Silence started in 2003 in Dallas, Texas and is held annually on the third Wednesday in May. It has grown to include over four hundred locations worldwide in 44 states and on five continents. This event will be the 18th annual ride in Corvallis.
About this year’s Corvallis ride
Marked by armbands and signs on a few bicycles, offering small cards in explanation of their presence, a long column of riders will wend their way through city streets in a silent, slow procession.
No particular skill or endurance level is needed for the ride, according to coordinator Jay Thatcher. “Just wear a helmet and share the road. The leaders will stop often to let the line regroup,” he says. Riders will gather in front of Osborn Aquatic Center, 1940 NW Highland Dr. at 6:30 pm. The riding begins promptly at 7:00 pm and is planned to last just over an hour.
Corvallisites lost
The local effort started after Robin Jensen, a police cadet and Aquatic Center staff member was killed by a hit and run driver in August 2004. It is poignant due to the death in 2021 of Sherry Sisson, who was hit on the Alsea Highway southwest of Corvallis. Other local cyclists that have died include Jeremy Gruver in 2019, Eric Austin in 2018, Randall Fox in 2016, and William Brown, Hank Bersani and Carin Norris in 2012.
Notably, Austin was a Corvallis Advocate reporter and copy editor.
A white painted “Ghost Bike” has been appearing on streets and roads in Benton County to remind all of locations where people have been hurt or killed and to provide handbills about the Ride of Silence to interested passersby. The Ghost Bike emphasizes that, even though drivers may see one or two people riding at a time, there are actually thousands of bikes on the streets each day, each one with a vulnerable rider on board.
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