The Ride of Silence, a world-wide bike ride that takes place on the same day at the same time to memorialize cyclists who have been killed by motorists, is 13 years old and headquartered in Garland.
Wednesday, Aug. 26, the governing advocacy for bicycling, The League American Bicycling, bestowed a gold status ranking on The Ride of Silence as a Bike Friendly Business, leaping over honorable mention, bronze and silver designations. (http://www.bikeleague.org/sites/default/files/BFB_Summer_2015_only.pdf)
This is important for the ride, the city of Garland (which has never had a Bike Friendly Community, Business or school) and the state of Texas.
Throughout the U.S., there are only 47 Bike Friendly Businesses. The state of Texas received five (one other gold in Houston and two silver and a bronze in San Antonio).
As a result, the state is ranked 30th, with 26 Bike Friendly Businesses and two Bike Friendly universities. (http://bikeleague.org/bfa/awards)
By contrast, Washington is ranked first with 16 communities, 36 businesses and one university. Alabama is rated 50th. It has only one Bike Friendly Community, two Bike Friendly Businesses and no schools.
For Garland, the city surprisingly outshines Dallas which has never been given any designation by the LAB. This is an important day for the ride, the city and the state.
The ride is held annually on the third Wednesday in May at 7 p.m., world-wide. The ride received a commendation many years ago from the Garland City Council.
Submitted by Chris Phelan, Chris.Phelan@RideOfSilence.org