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Ghost Bikes
So I was just speaking with someone about the ghost bike that was
stolen and then returned in Portland ( http://bikeportland.org/2008/02/14/g...theft-likely/). The person I'm speaking of has spent years living with me, and dating me. One of those years was in Boston, where I didn't even have a car and considered the boats and bikes my primary transportation, with public trans as an absolute fallback that rarely got used. Another of those years was spent in Salem, Ma where there is a ghost bike chained up right downtown, something we literally saw daily for a year. She has a bike of her own that I built up, has done a little riding and considers bikes in the living room standard issue (even now as we have an entire house to ourselves, with a basement, there's still always one in the living room. Long story short, this girl may not be a cyclist, but she's no stranger to cycling. Imagine my surprise when I linked her to the above article and she asked what a ghost bike was. I linked her to www.ghostbike.org and she told me "I saw [one of] those in Salem, at the intersection where Bank of America and Starbies is, but I never got it". This has completely changed my perspective on ghost bikes. I used to assume that most of the motorists passing one got it. Now knowing that she didn't get it not only driving by, but even walking by on a regular basis, I can't imagine they do. She is certainly more bike- competent than most motorists. If you'd have asked me yesterday what percentages of drivers I think got it, I'd have said 60-75 depending on my mood at the time. Now I'm thinking it's more like 15%. Dan |
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#2
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Ghost Bikes
Dan wrote
If you'd have asked me yesterday what percentages of drivers I think got it, I'd have said 60-75 depending on my mood at the time. Now I'm thinking it's more like 15%. Honestly Dan, I'm embarrassed to say I'd never heard of a "ghostbike" until reading this post. Thanks for sharing. Best Regards - Mike Baldwin |
#3
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Ghost Bikes
"Michael Baldwin" wrote: Honestly Dan, I'm embarrassed to say I'd never heard of a "ghostbike" until reading this post. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Nor I. I have seen a number of damaged bikes locked up. but I always assumed that they were left there by their owners because they were not rideable. |
#4
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Ghost Bikes
On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:28:37 GMT, "Leo Lichtman"
wrote: "Michael Baldwin" wrote: Honestly Dan, I'm embarrassed to say I'd never heard of a "ghostbike" until reading this post. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Nor I. I have seen a number of damaged bikes locked up. but I always assumed that they were left there by their owners because they were not rideable. Ghost bikes aren't necessarily the bike the deceased was riding at the time of their demise. They're almost always inoperable and most frequently painted all white, including the tires. It's a legacy of the sixties Provo movement in Amsterdam and their "White Plans" "White Corpse Plan" is a spin-off of the "White Bike Plan" "Whenever the big green monster strikes anywhere in Amsterdam and someone is flattened against the merciless asphalt, the police (blue chickens) must trace the victim's outline on the ground with a piece of chalk. As soon as an ambulance has removed the sad remains, the murderer himself or herself, using a chisel and hammer, must hack out the silhouette of his victim one inch deep in the asphalt, under supervision of the police. Next he or she will fill the hollow with white mortar. Then perhaps, all the prospective murderers approaching the scene of the disaster will let up on the gas for just a moment". The "White Bike Plan" is still alive in some cities and campuses but the bikes are now usually painted yellow or other unappealing bold colour. The Paris' Velib program is also part of the legacy those crazy anarchists left in hopes of raising public consciousness. -- zk |
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Ghost Bikes
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#6
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Ghost Bikes
In article ,
Zoot Katz writes: On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:28:37 GMT, "Leo Lichtman" wrote: "Michael Baldwin" wrote: Honestly Dan, I'm embarrassed to say I'd never heard of a "ghostbike" until reading this post. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Nor I. I have seen a number of damaged bikes locked up. but I always assumed that they were left there by their owners because they were not rideable. Ghost bikes aren't necessarily the bike the deceased was riding at the time of their demise. They're almost always inoperable and most frequently painted all white, including the tires. I think ghostbikes too greatly portray cycling as a dangerous activity. They shift the focus onto cycling and away from the motorized traffic which poses the /real/ danger in the first place. Perhaps the message would be better conveyed by hanging effigies of killer drivers from the streetlamps nearest the scenes of their misdeeds & crimes. Some folks might say we could do better than effigies, but I consider capital punishment barbaric. Come to think of it, even hanging effigies is quite distasteful & morbid. unless it's artificial fuchsias or petunias in baskets, and then it's just gauche. I wonder what would happen if the media were to regularly summarize the week's local traffic carnage? Especially w/ details as to who did what to whom. Anyways, as I see it, ghostbikes are supposed to tell drivers: "Hey, you guyz! Please stop clobberin' and killin' us!" But maybe that's being inferred as: "We're taking stoopid chances by being adjacent or proximitous to motorized vehicles, and maybe we shouldn't." Which is, of course, the wrong message to convey. If ghostbikes were appropriate, ghostpedestrians would be even more so. Reminds me of that song (Weighty Ghost) by WinterSleep. cheers, Tom -- Nothing is safe from me. I'm really at: tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca |
#7
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Ghost Bikes
On Feb 19, 11:00 pm, "ZBicyclist" wrote:
wrote: So I was just speaking with someone about the ghost bike that was stolen and then returned in Portland .... If you'd have asked me yesterday what percentages of drivers I think got it, I'd have said 60-75 depending on my mood at the time. Now I'm thinking it's more like 15%. I think you are still high. I may be. It's just always seemed obvious to me, at least the general principle, even before I had read anything about it on the net. There's a sad looking bike spraybombed white tip-to-tip, chain and all, usually surrounded with flowers, pictures, etc. There's nothing there that says "Happy Birthday". Also, when I said "get it" I simply meant understand the bike is a memorial to someone who likely died there on a bike. I don't mean to suggest any spiritual movements. My initial post was simply about the number of drivers who made the connection between the bikes and the death of a rider. Now realizing many cyclists on the cycling newsgroups also have no idea, my estimate probably is still high at 15%. Maybe 15% of city drivers would understand when seeing one? I'm sure most people who live in small towns and rarely travel to the city may never see these things, or have any reason to know what they represent. I don't think I saw one until I had my license and was able to drive into the city on a whim. The good or bad debate on ghost bikes is an interesting one. I'm somewhere in the middle. I can see problems with the concept, but I can also understand wanting to do *something* when you lose a friend so senselessly. If nothing else it probably makes the people involved in it's creation and decoration feel a little bit better, and relive some memories with the deceased. |
#8
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Ghost Bikes
On Feb 20, 8:48 am, " wrote:
The good or bad debate on ghost bikes is an interesting one. I'm somewhere in the middle. I can see problems with the concept, but I can also understand wanting to do *something* when you lose a friend so senselessly. If nothing else it probably makes the people involved in it's creation and decoration feel a little bit better, and relive some memories with the deceased. I'm with Tom Keats on this (or perhaps he's with me; I may have said it first in a previous thread). I think ghost bikes go almost entirely unnoticed except by dedicated cyclists. And I think if a non- cyclist does notice, he doesn't understand the meaning, that a cyclist was injured or killed there. And if he does get that meaning, he probably thinks "So it's obviously dumb to ride a bike. I'm sticking with my car." If I did lose a friend that way, I probably would want to do something. But I'd want to do something more productive. BTW, as an avid adult cyclist since 1973 or so, I've never had a friend who died from a bike crash. But I've had about four friends who died in car accidents. - Frank Krygowski |
#9
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Ghost Bikes
On Feb 19, 10:00 pm, "ZBicyclist" wrote:
wrote: thinking it's more like 15%. I think you are still high. He may be high, high as a motorist in a CO induced stupor... but let's not go into that now. I'll bet that less than 15% of the motoring public would notice one if you wire-tied it to their front grill. I know they wouldn't stop if they ran over one of 'em. |
#10
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Ghost Bikes
I love the idea. On the roads here in the South there are markers and
memorials along the roads marking where people have died whilst traveling the highways. Usually these are simple plastic flowered crosses and plaques. But this is perfect. If I should meet my end on the road (my preferred means of passing) This is what I want. - - Compliments of: "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman" If you want to E-mail me use: ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net My website: http://geocities.com/czcorner |
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