From a press release:
“Now in its fourth year, the Ride for Your Life is a 10-mile slow ride from downtown Bethesda to the Lincoln Memorial that is expected to bring over 1,000 cyclists and others together to honor victims of roadway violence and demand change to protect road users.
The ride will likely be the largest of dozens of events held around the country on World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. It comes as America faces a roadway safety crisis, with over 40,000 people killed on our roads each year. The number of cyclists killed in 2023, at 1,166, was the highest ever recorded. The number of pedestrians killed, at 7,300 killed in 2023, was near a 40-year high. The ride’s aim is to remember road crash victims—and to do better in their honor.
Founded by Dan Langenkamp, whose wife Sarah was killed in 2022 riding her bike from her children’s elementary school, the ride will conclude with a rally at the Lincoln Memorial, with speakers including members of Congress and civil society leaders involved in the movement to make our cities and towns more walkable/bikeable and safer. The ride’s start will include a range of Maryland locally elected representatives. The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) is a co-host of the ride. Other partners include Families for Safe Streets, Trek Bicycles, and VEO micromobility.
The event’s planners will issue a letter describing legislative and infrastructure demands to elected leaders at the end of the ride. Demands will include passage in the U.S. Congress of the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act (S. 944/H.R. 2011) in the U.S. Congress, a bill that would give communities nationwide greater flexibility to use federal highway funding to build safe biking and walking infrastructure.
Local asks will include passage in Maryland of a so called intelligent-speed assistance law to require installation of speed limiters in the cars of “super speeders” and other individuals convicted of reckless driving and certain other moving traffic violations.
For those unable to ride, Families for Safe Streets will conduct a walk to the rally at the Lincoln Memorial from the George Washington University/Foggy Bottom metro.
WHO:
About 1,000 cyclists and 100 walkers.
Rally speakers: Representative Jamie Raskin (TBC), other members of Congress (TBC); Dan Langenkamp, Ride for Your Life founder; Trek Bicycles; Chuck Mahone, author of Strong Towns and Confessions of a Recovering Engineer; and Cathy Chase, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
Starting point speakers include Maryland Delegate Marc Korman, Maryland Assistant Secretary of Transportation Joe McAndrew, Montgomery Country Council Member Andrew Friedson, Montgomery Country Council Member Evan Glass, and others.
WHEN: Sunday, November 16, 2025
Speeches at 9:45 AM. Rally at the Lincoln Memorial begins at approx. 12:00 PM and concludes by 1:00 PM.
WHERE:
Start: Caroline Freeland Urban Park,7200 Arlington Rd, Bethesda, MD
Finish & Rally: Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.
Route: From Bethesda via River Road into DC, to the Lincoln Memorial.”