Cedar Falls Participates In National Cyclist Memorial

Walking through Downtown Cedar Falls on a Saturday morning is relaxing. Right now, the farmers market is in full swing, so plenty of people are buzzing along the streets. As I strolled along, checking out all of the vendors at the market something caught my eye.

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In Overman Park, right beside the farmers market was a bike painted in white and a flag waving in the wind. As I got closer I saw twenty-nine crosses with names on them.

It turns out that Cedar Falls participated in the national Ride of Silence initiative.

Each of the names on these crosses was of people in Cedar Falls and Waterloo who had died while cycling. Each memorial had a press clipping that covered their death.

The twenty-nine names of Cedar Valley bikers who have passed away while cycling and were honored at this memorial include:

Todd P. Weston Jr.

Jadrian Manning

Vera Ribeiro Sulentic

Eugene Harding

Connie Inks

Gerrick Stotser

Dilail Salkik

Nicole Kulaszewski

Charles Tom Bridge

Jermey Ray Williams

Steve Towne

Larry Wiggins Senior

Cameron Hoffman

Michael Joe Mann

Rick Cullum

Dwight Wessels

Devin Estabrook

James Stoffer

Andrew Pavlovec

June Judd

Ellen Bengston

Gary L. Clipperton

Charles Fluharty

Thomas McKenna

Thomas Rowland

Stephan McDonald

Blake Corporon

Kent Harfst

On May 19th Downtown Cedar Falls took part in the national memorial ride. This year marked the nineteenth anniversary of the ride.

Riders began the eight and a half mile silent trek at 6:20 PM and concluded at 7:15 PM, and was held by the Cedar Valley Cyclists. The ride in Downtown Cedar Falls began at Overman Park, West 3rd Street, and Clay Street. Riders rode from Overman to Main Street Greenhill Road Cedar Heights Drive, Grand Boulevard, and State Street.

The very first Ride of Silence took place in 2003 at White Rock Lake in Dallas. It was organized by Chris Phelan after an endurance cyclist Larry Schwartz lost his life after being hit by a bus's mirror in 2003.

You can read more about the event on the official Ride of Silence website.