(This is not published as a response to a post on Columbus Underground thread http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/ride-of-silence-2012-may-16#post-434569 (It possible my cynicism about the Ride of Silence results from over-reaching in my attempts at being an independent thinker. ) I probably wouldn’t wave and smile at a solemn military service, (or at a service in memory civilians killed and injured in unnecessary wars, whether US-waged or otherwise.) I agree; there is a time for silence and reflection. But we don’t necessarily have to be solemn to be respectful. We can honor Shawn and other injured or killed cyclists by celebrating their lives and by celebrating cycling. In fact, we’d be likely to get more people involved in cycling if we seized the opportunity for reaching out to large numbers of people on the big ride, instead of leaving them to wonder amid the clicking of cycling shoes and the sheen of expensive bikes. To restate, I’d prefer a celebratory ride. In my humble opinion, movements for social change are based more on a joyful pursuit of a vision for a better future than they are based on outrage. The latter, which is more prevalent, is shorter lived, generating more heat than light. That’s part of the problem with Occupy. No offense, but being a cyclist, per se, does not register in my mind as a social justice issue–though it could be if the mostly White and well-off people involved with the Ride of Silence did more to connect it with poverty, racism, and other forms of intolerance. The physical fitness and free-spirited aspects to cycling are, for me, a small part of why it matters, when compared to the social justice and ecological aspects. As someone who cycles just about every day, the Ride of Silence doesn’t have that sense of perspective, but instead seem to have a distorted approach to identity politics as it neglects to connect cycling to the bigger picture.
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