Ride of Silence in the Daily News Record and WHSV TV

Daily

 News-RecordHARRISONBURG

 — Dozens of bicy­clists pedaled their agenda Wednes­day through the streets of Harrison­burg to honor those who’ve been killed by motorists and raise aware­ness of cyclists on the road.Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coali­tion sponsored the local observance of the international Ride of Silence. The event was just one of many in a busy week for cycling enthusiasts observ­ing National Bike Safety Month, which is May.

Chris Phelan organized the first Ride of Silence in Dallas in 2003 after a friend was killed by the mirror of a passing school bus, according to the group’s website. Participants are asked to ride no faster than 12 mph for an hour and be silent.The ride has since grown to 300 cities in all 50 states in the U.S. and 18 countries, according to the group.

This is the sixth year the Ride of Silence has been held in Harrison­burg, drawing its largest crowd so far with about 50 bikers, said Marshall Hammond, one of the organizers.

As part of the event, participants

 who did not have safety lights re­ceived one free, thanks to the Har­risonburg- Rockingham Metropolitan Planning Organization, a transporta­tion planning body.“Lights are really important from sundown to sunrise,” said Thanh Dang, a Harrisonburg planner who works with the MPO, the city’s bicy­cle committee and participated in Wednesday’s ride.

Starting at Eastern Mennonite University’s Commons, the group made a loop that headed through

See

 CYCLING, Page B2

downtown Harrisonburg and returned to the university. 

“We wanted to make sure we were seen on reasonably busy streets,” Hammond said. 

Motorists the group encountered were courteous, Hammond said, which hasn’t always been the case. 

“We didn’t get honked or blown at like we did the first year,” he said. 

Both cyclists and motorists should be mindful and considerate of each other when they cross paths, he added. 

“We teach our members … about being as respectful to the community as we ask them to be of us,” he said. 

Hammond said interest in bicycle safety has grown in large part because of another cycling event, the DR100 ride, which is this weekend. 

DR100 honors a Virginia Beach cyclist, Dr. Joe Mirenda, who was struck and killed in August 2009 by a vehicle on Port Republic Road in Rockingham County. 

Mirenda, 49, was on his way to visit his son, Nic, a freshman at James Madison University at the time, when he was hit from behind southeast of Cross Keys Road. 

Nic Mirenda was one of the cyclists at Wednesday’s ride. 

Joe Mirenda’s death prompted local bikers to start the DR100 as a way to honor the doctor and raise money for bicycle and pedestrian safety improvement projects in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. 

The first and second DR100 events were held in late summer, but organizers moved it up this year to coincide with the Ride of Silence and National Bike Safety Month. 

“We have a lot in common with the Ride of Silence,” Robert Cone, one of DR100’s organizers, said. 

This year’s DR100 will be Saturday starting and finishing at Harrisonburg First Church of the Nazarene, 1871 Boyers Road. 

From now on, the annual ride will be on the Saturday following the Ride of Silence, which is observed on the third Wednesday each May, Cone said. 

About 150 people have signed up for the DR100 so far, and registration is open until the event begins. For more information or to register, go to www.dr100.org. 

Also this week is Bike to Work Day on Friday. 

Breakfast will be served at Court Square from 7 to 10 a.m., and a Bike from Work Party will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at Clementine Café. For more information, go to www.hburgbike2work. 

org. 

Contact Jeremy Hunt at 574 6-273 or jhunt@dnronline.com 

Michael Reilly / DN-R 

Organizer Marshall Hammond pauses for a moment after the international Ride of Silence on Wednesday.