Durham bikers remember cyclists who fell on Ride of Silence

Days of rain and cloud cover clouded Durham throughout the week. But as dozens of cyclists gathered at CCB Plaza Wednesday for the annual Ride of Silence, the sun peeked through the clearing sky just in time to offer a glimmer of hope to an otherwise bleak event.

The Ride of Silence is a national event held annually to commemorate people who have been killed or seriously injured while cycling. Communities across the country hold commemorative rides to raise awareness of the problem of road violence. This year, Bike Durham, a local transportation nonprofit, organized the 4.3-mile ride that wound through greater downtown Durham, avoiding construction sites and riding through neighborhood alleys to avoid busy intersections. The distance represents the 43 people killed while riding bicycles in North Carolina last year.

Shaun King, president of the Bike Durham board, says the event has become a place where people like Allison Simpson, whose husband Matt was killed while cycling with his family in 2022, can heal and find community.

“It’s a privilege to be a part of the Ride of Silence year after year,” King said. “Each year, hike members who have previously experienced trauma now use hike to express themselves and participate in different ways. It is therapeutic and important that we commit to being persistent partners in events like these.

Cyclists are encouraged to remain silent throughout the entire ride. The participants distributed small documents to the spectators indicating the route and the places where road violence took place. Simone Hamlett, an avid cyclist and local leader of the Triangle’s Black Girls Do Bike chapter, says she uses the quiet time to reflect on the lives lost.

“I want to remember those who have been injured or lost their lives while biking or walking due to a crime involving vehicles,” Hamlett said.

The City of Durham has invested millions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades in recent years to improve access to transportation for people who take the bus, bike or walk to their destinations. But advocates like Hamlett continue to push for a more comprehensive network of mobility options.

“The City of Durham is making progress, but some roads still don’t have the infrastructure that I think we could have,” Hamlett says. “I just want an all-bike city.”

Bike Durham has led efforts to advance the demands of the cycling and pedestrian community. During last year’s budget cycle, advocates mobilized to appoint a Vision Zero coordinator to the city’s transportation staff. This position was filled in December. Now, new challenges, including pushing the state Department of Transportation to convert one-way streets back to two-way streets and getting the city to repair and expand Durham’s sidewalk system, are just a few elements that the defenders hope to obtain within the framework of the project. budget for next year.

“For Bike Durham, we’re really trying to move from vision to change,” King says. “Now we really need to see change happening and dollars being spent in a way that we can observe, monitor and challenge when they are not being spent for sustainable and equitable purposes.” »

On Monday, City Manager Wanda Page will present her staff’s recommendations for the 2024-25 fiscal year budget. The city council will hold its second public hearing on June 3 before taking the final vote on the budget on June 17.

Correction: City Council members will take a formal vote on the budget on Monday, June 17, not June 30 as originally reported.

Disclosure: Justin Laidlaw was previously a board member of the nonprofit Bike Durham.

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