Bay Area Cyclists Hold Annual Ride of Silence to Honor Those Killed on City Streets

“We honor folks,” said Paul Valdez, a lead organizer from San Francisco. “I’m lucky to be alive, to still ride my bike, to be with my community, but it was those who we lost … that to me was the biggest motivator to help me with the ride.”

The ride comes just a few weeks after a 38-year-old Oakland man died of injuries from a fatal hit-and-run, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. In the past 10 years, 15 bikers died in San Francisco, and 40 bikers died in Alameda County, according to data from the California Crash Reporting System. Deaths in San Francisco have remained between 1 and 3 each year. Meanwhile, deaths in Alameda County are on the rise, climbing from about 4 to 8. San Francisco sees an average of 386 bike injuries per year, and Alameda sees about 437.

“Every time we have a death on the streets, that’s one death too many,” said Krissa Corbett Cavouras, the communications director for the SF Bicycle Coalition.

Each year, San Francisco cyclists meet up at a central location and then roll out to usually four or five different stops where the cycling community has lost someone. At each location, someone who knew the person killed in the crash will say some words and talk about who they were, said Jon Gaull, a San Francisco resident and biking advocate, who became emotional speaking about the lives lost.

“It’s hard to hear those stories and really identify with those people and the loss that they’re experiencing,” Gaull said. “But it’s, I think, maybe the most important ride for the community, because it’s important to show the people who have lost someone on our streets that they are not forgotten.”

The ride ended with the installation of a “ghost bike” at city hall. The ghost bike, painted white and covered in flowers, now sits as a quiet reminder of the action needed to protect bikers across the city.

Advocates described San Francisco as one of the safest places to bike in the world and credited the city for improvements like speed cameras, bike lanes, and other traffic calming measures.

“We know that any loss of life on our streets due to traffic violence is unacceptable and it’s preventable,” Corbett Cavouras said.

For Corbett Cavouras, “the Ride of Silence is really reflecting that we can’t bring people back, that a lot of the loss of life that has happened has been because of streets that are designed for cars and the efficient movement of vehicles.”

Though they agree that more improvements are needed, and continue to work to push for them, Gaull said the ride is not about politics.

“As a community, we spend countless hours every year lobbying the city to improve infrastructure, improve safety and, and help prevent these kinds of things from happening in the future. But I would say this is not one of those times. I think this is really about remembering and honoring the people who have died and who have lost loved ones.”