Ride of Silence

I rode with the Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas group tonight. We started out at about 5:45 and rode at a leisurely pace, averaging about 13 mph. We started on the south side of the Arkansas River at the trail head circle at the bottom of the River Mountain Road. From there we went across the Big Dam Bridge to the trails on the north side (where I ran yesterday).

On the return trip we headed north through the golf course, across I40 and then back through Burns Park. The roads through Burns Park were nice. They were rolling hills going through woods. It was the best part of the ride.

After we got back to the starting point, I rode to the top of River Mountain Road. It was a pretty steep climb, and I slowed to just over 6 mph, using my lowest gear. Coming back down the road I coasted the whole way and got over 40 mph before I applied my brakes.

At 7 we met again at the trail head and did the Ride of Silence, which was a slow paced silent ride to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured by motorists. As you can see in the picture below, I rode for Philip, who was killed in 2007. We rode to Alltel at a slow pace, and then it seemed that most of the group was going to hang out or eat downtown. I didn't have a light, so I needed to head back to the trail head. It was about five miles, and I rode between 20 and 24 mph most of the way. It felt pretty good.