Ghostbikes Are Shrines To A Bicyclist Killed By On The Drivers

A Ghost Bike is a white-painted bike that is placed at a location where a cyclist has been hit.

According to an old post on bello velo, this photo depicts the first Ghost Bike, memorializing an accident on Holly Hills Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri.

It was created by Patrick Van Der Tuin who saw a cyclist hit by a car. A few days later, he and his friends locked several bikes at locations where he knew cars had collided with cyclists.

Since then, the meme has spread nationwide. GhostBike.org is a clearinghouse of Ghost Bike installations and photos of the sites. Link to GhostBike.org, Link to bello velo (via CT2)


Here's a recent story on a ghost bike.


White bike appears at fatal crash site

Marlon A. Walker, Staff Writer
RALEIGH - Nancy Antoine Leidy was an avid bicyclist for most of her life, so it seems appropriate that a bike now marks the spot where she was struck last week by a drunken driver.

The problem is, no one knows how it got there.

Just before 11 a.m. April 23, Leidy, 60, was riding north on Nazareth Street, off Western Boulevard near N.C. State University, when she was struck by a Ford F-150 pickup driven by Brian Anthony Reid. She died hours later.

Reid, who turned 21 that day, was charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, failure to control speed and driving while intoxicated. He blew a 0.12 about noon on the day of the crash, more than the state's legal limit of 0.08.

Over the weekend, the old bike, painted white, appeared roadside on Nazareth Street, near a spray-painted orange outline of where Leidy's bike lay after the accident. A placard on the bike reads, "A cyclist was killed here."

The group Ghostbikes began about three years ago to affix old bikes to sites near where bicyclists had either been hit or killed. According to the Web site Ghostbikes.org, the bicycle memorials are supposed to remind bikers and drivers to share the road.

"Reckless riding and driving kills," the Web site states.

The News & Observer was unable to contact a member of Ghostbikes on Tuesday.

Ghost bikes have found homes along streets in Oregon, New York and Pennsylvania.

Leidy's husband, Ross, said she had recently gotten back into riding after shin splints took the joy out of running. It was also something the two enjoyed together.

The couple had recently returned to Raleigh after spending several weeks with their children in Texas.

On their way back to North Carolina, the two stopped in Alabama, where they pulled the bikes they had taken with them off the back of their PT Cruiser and enjoyed several miles on an open trail.

On April 20, the two maneuvered together the same path Nancy Leidy was on the day she was hit.

marlon.walker@newsobserver.com or 836-4906