Ride of silence in Mt Isa
Today was the inaugural ride of silence in Mt Isa. www.rideofsilence.org
This was a slow paced ride taken in silence, each rider alone with their thoughts.
Today was a chance for the riders to reflect on the recent tragic events that have occurred in this city in the North West of Queensland. This was the most riders I have ever seen in a group, in the City of Mt Isa, with the exception of the weekends in the past when the Barkly Challenge was being held.
The ride was organised by Ron Pickering a member of the Copper City Cycling Club who was a friend of Peter Berg a Mt Isa cyclist killed on the 11th of April this year on the highway between Mt Isa and Cloncurry. Many riders today wore black armbands to remember those no longer able to ride with their mates. Ron gave a short talk at the start of the ride with some sobering statistics for everyone to keep in mind.
- Average of 44 cyclists killed per year for the last 10 years or so
- 80% of these are male
- 20% female
- 75% of the deaths were the result of cyclists being at fault
The ride today had been well publicised in the North West Star so the whole town was probably well aware of the reason behind the ride. Vehicles and passing traffic was pretty well behaved. Whether the good behaviour was due to the presence of the police escort or due to the sentiment of the occasion I’m not sure, but I hope the drivers in this town continue to treat cyclists with a greater degree of respect. As today’s ride proved it is actually possible to share the road and be considerate to fellow human beings.
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