On Sunday, organizers of the annual bike ride Moonlight Ramble sent an email to participants apologizing for the event’s cancellation. A third-party security contractor failed to secure the route, the email explained, and drivers had streamed into the course.
But many cyclists decided to ride the ramble anyway — some without any knowledge that the event had been canceled due to lack of security.
The ramble was supposed to start at 11 p.m., but 40 minutes later, Scott Cunningham and a group of friends waited behind a crowd of people for the ramble to start. Other riders started to walk away from the start line and told Cunningham the ride was canceled and to go home.
Cunningham called a hotline set up for the event, and says he was told by two different staffers they had no knowledge of the cancellation. “At this point, a lot of people were leaving,” Cunningham says, but he decided to check his inbox. Organizers had notified cyclists of the event’s cancellation when it was postponed last month over weather conditions, so he figured official confirmation of the ramble’s cancellation could be found there. However, he saw no emails about the ramble.
So Cunningham decided to ride the 11-mile course of the ramble anyway — and, he says, several hundred others did as well.
Another rider, Ed Rich, says he heard an announcement through loudspeakers near the start line that announced the cancellation. Cyclists were told they could ride the course at their own risk, Rich recalls.
Rich decided to ride and it was a “harrowing” experience, he says.
For the first mile or two, Rich says there seemed to be plenty of volunteer staff and security. Signage indicated the correct route, and the streets were adequately lit. But around the halfway mark, Rich says a few cyclists were confused about a part of the route that passed through Laclede’s Landing.
“Some of them were actually riding their bike north on Broadway as if they were going to get on the interstate,” Rich says. “A lot of cyclists were yelling, ‘No, turn around!’”
Later in the route, downtown, Rich says two drivers of four-wheelers and several people on small motorbikes started to “terrorize” cyclists as they surrounded cyclists and popped wheelies. Someone of them circled a police SUV, trying to taunt them into a chase, according to Rich. Police did not engage.
“We were trying to salvage a good time, but these motorized hooligans made a real miserable time of it,” Rich says.
Cunningham notes that drivers made their way onto the route, forcing cyclists into sharing what had been meant to be designated roads.
“There were barricades taken out and cars got onto the course,” Cunningham says. “I think most of the drivers were just confused that there was an event going on. It wasn’t malicious, but it was definitely a problem.”
Matt Helbig, CEO of the company that manages the ramble, Big River Race Management, says instructions announced over a PA system by the event's MC were very clear — the ramble was cancelled due to the compromised safety of the ride.
"The emcee made multiple announcements at the start line as people continued to trickle through," Helbig wrote in an email to the RFT. "I don't doubt that there were people who did not hear the announcement; people were talking among themselves, people were losing patience. Some left the start corral before the ride was cancelled as they were tired of waiting."
Event staff tried to get the course secured, Helbig adds, but it was clear they couldn't accomplish that with the people they had. They decided to cancel around 11:40 p.m. On-ground event staff alerted riders of the cancellation as well the emcee.
On the ride after the cancellation, Cunningham noticed security staffers at most intersections, some of whom interacted with cyclists and told them to have fun.
“I’m not sure if they even knew it was canceled,” Cunningham says.
This year’s Moonlight Ramble was the 59th iteration of the event. Rich, who says he’s attended for the last 16 years, says Saturday’s chaos didn’t sour the event for him.
“The ride had officially been canceled, so it’s hard to say who was to blame here,” Rich says.
This story has been updated with comment from Matt Helbig.
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