Ride of Silence

Around 6:15 I headed down to the PMA to meet 500 or so other cyclists for the 3rd annual (I think it's the third...) Philadelphia Ride of Silence. We gathered at the steps in honor of the eight local cyclists who have been killed while cycling on public roadways within the past year. After a few speeches and a poetry reading we were escorted by police around an 8-mile loop of center city, all the while in complete silence, like a funeral procession. We picked up many other riders along the way and it was simply amazing to have all walks of life together for the sake of advocating cyclists' rights. I simply can't express the surreal beauty of many hundreds of self-powered, two-wheeled humans parting the awe stricken urban cacophony of cars and passerbys. Overwhelming really.

Afterwards I tried to convince a few friends to join me on a 20 miler along the Wissahickon and through Roxborough, but we ended up at the bar instead. Go figure. Did a core routine this morning, but otherwise it was a fairly easy day. The second most exciting thing I did today was purchase some swim goggles. Now I just have to build up the courage to jump in...