Silent Ride for Fallen Cyclist

Silent Memorial Ride
November 2011

Tragically, in the fall of 2011,  Advocacy for the Respect of Cyclists was active again in our own Parkdale neighbourhood. I joined with neighbours in an early morning memorial ride for Jenna a cyclist killed by a truck, just past the end of our street.  We started at Spadina and Bloor and using the people’s microphone, echoing the activism of the Occupy movement, the leaders organized us to ride to the accident site.

We road in silence,hundreds of bikes processing, creating a counter current to the morning rush hour– we were a strong and fragile witness.

At the scene, we used the people’s microphone again and it was a powerful moment for me to repeat the words of her friend during the installation of a ghost bike: We loved Jenna, he/then we said.  I didn’t know Jenna, but I knew that I belonged with the group of people who showed up early Monday morning to bear witness to her death and to call for a road that is safe for all travellers.

It was an act of mourners. It was an act of community.