Five cyclists were hit and injured in 2009 along a stretch of March Road between the intersections of Carling Avenue and Terry Fox Drive. (CBC)

A man in a coma for weeks after he and four other cyclists were involved in a hit-and-run crash in Kanata nearly two years ago remains a long way from getting back on a bicycle. So on Wednesday, others will ride on his behalf.

Hundreds of cyclists will ride through the streets of Gatineau on Wednesday evening in the Ride of Silence, an international event to honour cyclists who have been killed or hurt while riding their bikes and to remind drivers of motor vehicles to share the road.

Cyclists will gather at 6:30 p.m. at Gatineau's city hall, across the street from the Museum of Civilization, for the 10-kilometre ride.

Robert Wein will be there, watching.

Wein was one of five people struck in a hit-and-run on a suburban road in Kanata on July 19, 2009 and the most seriously injured. He came out of his coma after three weeks, but it has been on a long, slow path to retrain his body to do things he once took for granted.

The former triathlete now goes to day programs for people with brain injuries and takes physiotherapy.

"My rehabilitation is now my full-time job," said Wein.

His partner, Cathy Anderson, who was also injured in the crash, will be speaking at the Ride of Silence and plans to ride her bicycle at the event.

She said she and Wein are now focused on making both drivers and cyclists aware of the dangers on the road.

"I see cyclists doing things all the time that I just kind of say 'Wow. If you only knew what I knew, maybe you wouldn't be doing that,'" said Anderson. "And that's why I make myself available as much as possible for things like this."

"We're hoping that the silence will speak volumes for the people not here today to speak," she said.

Wein said he is grateful he'll be able to watch Wednesday night's memorial ride, and said hearing the news of any cyclist's death affects him.

"I read it and I think I'm not dead," he said. "No one is dead. We're five for five. So it's humbling."

Ottawa man Sommit Luangpakham, 45, turned himself in after the crash involving Wein and is facing five charges of failing to remain at the scene of a collision and five of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.

His trial is set to begin October 11, 2011.