Reflections on the Temecula Ride of Silence

It was a great honor to be among cyclists Wednesday who participated in the Seventh Annual Temecula Ride of Silence as we paid special tribute to Randy Pruett, a local school teacher and active member of a cycling club, who lost his life in a bicycle accident last year. Pruett’s widow Laura read a particularly moving piece, The Cyclists' Prayer, by Fr. Amado Picardal, which ends: “As we enjoy each other's company, as we feel we could bike forever, may we continue biking even as we grow old, and up to the day we die, and may you allow us to continue biking in heaven, forever and ever, Amen!” The Ride of Silence is truly a worldwide event, held in 368 cities at the same time, 7 p.m. on the second Wednesday of May. It honors the hundreds of cyclists killed on the road and thousands more injured. As I rode through Temecula in the dark, I thought about Temecula being named a Bike Friendly city, the City Council approving $45,000 to design more bike lanes, and news that the city was going to hold its first Bike to Work Day. Things are changing in Temecula. It's time to thank Mayor Mike Naggar, Councilman Chuck Washington, City Planner Matt Peters, and everyone else who is involved at City Hall in leading these changes. And special thanks to the dozens of cyclists who rode Wednesday to honor their friends and family, their fellow cyclists. Temecula residents have always shown they care. The Ride of Silence is a simple, silent, testimony to that. By the way, photos from the event are available at www.rideofsilence.org and at Temecula Ride of Silence on Facebook.