Cyclists hold Ride of Silence on Rickenbacker Causeway to honor those killed while riding

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Dozens of bicyclists took over Rickenbacker Causeway on Wednesday night for a Ride of Silence.

It was in honor of cyclists who have been hurt or killed in crashes, including a couple who lost their lives last weekend.

Maribel Reyes lost her husband of 25 years on the causeway. He was also struck and killed by a vehicle.

“It is very hard for me to be here seven years later and realize we are back in the same spot that I was in 2015,” Reyes said. “We talked about the fact that it would happen again if nothing gets done, and sadly it did.”

Cyclist and cycling activist Eli Stiers joined the ride, calling attention to the deadly dangers along the Rickenbacker Causeway.

“They could and should had done something sooner,” Stiers said. “Two additional people had to die to spur some sort of reaction from the county.”

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It was Sunday when the man and woman were struck and killed by a driver in a Jeep.

Wednesday’s ride was planned before this latest tragedy.

“This as a call to action, a call for change,” said Stiers.

Miami-Dade County officials say they’re working on calls for change, committing a quarter of a million dollars in a meeting Tuesday to begin installing physical barriers.

“Certainly, too little too late, unfortunately, for the people who lost their lives this week,” Stiers said.

Cyclists like Stiers welcome the action, but stress that more must be done to protect lives.

“You can slow traffic by reducing the speed limit, you can reduce the travel lanes size,” he said. “We’d like to go out and ride our bikes without fear of being hit by a car and killed.

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“We don’t want to have any more rides of silence in which we are honoring those that have been killed on the Rickenbacker or anywhere else in Miami-Dade County”