Photo of Matt Simpson; credit Allison Simpson
With the approval of Allison Simpson, Matt's widow, Bike Durham has organized a memorial gathering and ride of silence to honor the memory of Matt Simpson who was killed in traffic violence while bike riding with his family.
We will gather Sunday morning, July 24th, at 11am at Westover Park near the intersection where the West Ellerbee Creek Trail crosses Guess Road. Allison and her friends placed a ghost bike at this spot last weekend.
We will have cards for you to write messages that you can insert into spokes of the ghost bike, and markers for you to sign the bike directly. We will have black armbands for you to wear, if you choose to participate in the ride of silence. We also encourage you to bring a cut flower to place at the ghost bike.
At about 11:15, we will call everyone together and Allison Simpson will address the group, and likely one or more of Matt's friends will say a few words. I will follow with a message about how you can continue to honor Matt's memory with further action to make Durham's streets safer for everyone and some instructions about the ride for those who are able to join us.
We will have a moment of silence before starting the ride.
The ride will be just over three miles in a mostly “on-road” loop starting with a crossing of Guess Road where Matt was hit and killed and finishing up back at Westover Park. We'll take it at a slow pace and should complete it in about 30 minutes. We will have at least 8 ride "facilitators" to keep the group safe and together. They will ride at the front, at the rear, and positioning themselves at intersections to make sure we can all go through together. We'll have one or two mechanics on the ride in case anyone gets a flat tire or a chain falls off.
The forecast is for hot and sunny weather. We'll have plenty of cold water. We encourage you to bring your own water bottles, sunscreen, hats, and helmets if you are riding.
We know that Matt's death has touched many people in his family's circle, in his neighborhood, and in the wider Durham community. We hope that this event will be an opportunity for you to join in solidarity with others to honor Matt's loss of life and to recommit ourselves to organizing for safer streets for all in Durham. Please let us know if you plan to join at this link so that we have an idea of the size of crowd to expect. If you cannot join us, but would like to leave a message for Allison, we have created a digital way for you to express your thoughts.