ST. LOUIS, MO. – The owner of Candy Shop Bikes in North St. Louis will remember his slain brother and support crime victims with the Stop the Violence Ride.
“Murder is a cold thing,” said Shawn Walker owner of Candy Shop Bikes. He said his brother Charles was shot and killed during a home invasion in January 2007 in St. Louis.
“I deal with that every day. I live with the absence of my big brother every day, as the result of violence.”
That loss inspired the Stop the Violence Community Bike Ride. This will be the second year for the event. He admits that community gatherings have their limits for ensuring public safety.
“Obviously, us having a bike ride can’t stop gun violence, or traffic violence, or dating violence,” he explained. “However, we can pull our resources together.”
Shawn said staff from Affinia Healthcare will be at the event offering mental-health resources. Trailnet and Terrain Magazine staff will help with the ride and connecting young people to outdoor-fitness. Also, the ride will start at the O’Fallon Park YMCA Recreational Complex and run for 5.5 miles, ending at the Be Well Café and Market in the Hyde Park neighborhood of North St. Louis. He said neighbors at last-year’s event felt empowered despite their own losses.
“People were saying it was good to come together in the name of peace and in the name of healing and to see like-minded people.”
While Shawn wants to raise awareness of violence in the City of St. Louis, he hopes this ride will also bring permanent recovery.
“Hopefully next year it can be something like “Save the Whales Bike Ride” or “Let’s Have Better Homes and Gardens Bike Ride”.
Stop the Violence Community Bike Ride 2023
Saturday, July 29
8 a.m. – Noon CDT
O’Fallon Park YMCA Recreational Complex
4343 West Florissant
St. Louis, MO 63107
