Ghost Bike - Remembrance

Photo by M.V.Jantzen

What you see above is called a Ghost bike and if your interested in what a Ghost Bike is you can find out more at http://www.ghostbikes.org/ in essence a Ghost Bike is a memorial for a cyclist that has been struck and killed by a motorist.

From the Ghost Bike Website:
"Ghost Bikes are small and somber memorials for bicyclists who are killed or hit on the street. A bicycle is painted all white and locked to a street sign near the crash site, accompanied by a small plaque. They serve as reminders of the tragedy that took place on an otherwise anonymous street corner, and as quiet statements in support of cyclists' right to safe travel."

I have been riding off and on for the past few years and during that time I have to admit that I have had little contact with the biking community. I have always been in my own little world, thinking my own little thoughts and never really looking outside of myself.

Things have a way of changing, more clearly, Life has a way of changing these things.

Well ok, getting run off the road has a way of changing things. Combine that with the fact that less than two weeks after my accident a man (Don Parker - 52) was struck and killed nearby. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10147/1061257-100.stm  it had an effect on me (his Ghost Bike was placed on Memorial Day (Editor Note: it was the day before memorial Day http://kdka.com/local/Don.Parker.memorial.2.1724167.html) and I was still to banged up to join in the ride of silence) . As the road rash on my leg is fading and the pain in my shoulder is slowly getting better I find myself more aware of the cyclists around me. I also find myself gripped with the desire to connect with these people, my people. So I look forward to the future not with fear of getting run off the road again (I'm sure it will happen) but with the excitement of meeting as many of the other cyclists that are out there as I can.