Approximately 40 bicyclists participated in the annual Ride of Silence in Lubbock on Wednesday, May 16. Promptly at 7:00 p.m. the group, many wearing black armbands in memory of those killed by motorists and others wearing red armbands if they themselves had been injured by a motorist, rode from the Brownfield Highway north on Milwaukee Avenue to Fourth Street and back.
A constant speed of approximately 12 miles per hour was maintained, and no one spoke during the 8-mile ride as a show of respect for those who had died. Several participants also wore a photo on the back of their jersies in honor and memory of their friend Brett Walrath who was struck from behind and killed by a drunk driver as he rode home from work in 2004. All went smoothly, as Durwood Mayfield, Texas Bicycle Coalition’s Local Outreach Manager, planned the event and decided on a safe route that would give good exposure to the residents of Lubbock.
On hand to give added coverage was the Lubbock Avalanche Journal, thanks to efforts of Captain Lance Slack an avid cyclists and member of the Lubbock Police Department. Several local news stations also filmed the event for broadcast that night and the following day. This was Lubbock’s second Ride of Silence and certainly will not be the last.
