Activism class at Northeastern on Ghost Bikes. I used your website to visit all the bikes in Chicago that were listed as still being up. Thank you SO much for compiling that information. It's been VERY useful. I wanted to let you know that I wasn't able to find three bikes that were listed as still being up: - Jepson Livingston - Dion Harris - Rob Heinbockel I don't know if you are still following this project or not, but if you are, I was wondering if you knew what might have happened to them. When I talked to the Park Manager at Kosciuszo Park about Jepson Livingston's bike, she said it may have been taken down when the City did construction on Diversey a few years ago since it hasn't been there in a while. I wasn't able to confirm this yet, but thought maybe you might have some insight as to whether or not that was an unusual practice of the City to do. I know there was also recent construction on Grand/near North where Dion Harris' bike is supposed to be. According to a shop worker near Rob Heinbockel's bike (or where it's supposed to be) the bike hasn't been there in about four years. Thanks for any insight you can provide! And again, thank you for making the information about the bikes available on-line. It's really been helpful.
Best, Mary Kroeck
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the “ghost bike” memorial to her daughter at the Milwaukee/Racine crash site.
She lives in the suburbs but is out there day and night, several times a week, and has been since her only child was run over and killed by a truck driver. I stopped to talk with her one night and she said she is praying for her daughter, she is praying for the truck driver, and she is praying for the safety of all the people riding their bikes in Chicago. I hope we can honor her daughter and work to make our streets safer."
http://chi.streetsblog.org/2017/02/03/wicker-park-planner-and-mom-to-alderman-hopkins-stop-the-bike-crackdowns/
Linsay Bayley reports the regular sighting of Lisa's mom praying at her memorial site. If you ever see her there and you have time, please give her a kind word and thank her.
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honoring Kevin Clark’s legacy through music, action, and love. Kevin was tragically hit and killed while riding his bike on Wednesday May 26th near the intersection of Logan Boulevard and Western Avenue. He was a drummer and music educator well known for his role in the 2003 School of Rock movie starring Jack Black.
Speakers will remember Kevin’s life and legacy and call for improving bicycling safety in Logan Square and neighborhoods throughout Chicago. We will also install a ghost bike memorial for Kevin near the crash site.
The area around Logan and Western has long been recognized as a treacherous area for people walking and biking. In 2018 Active Transportation Alliance worked with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association to develop a suite of community-informed recommendations to improve the intersection, including removing a travel lane for a short segment, adding a protected bike lane, and enhancing crosswalks and lighting. Sadly, the city and state never took action.
Please join us in honoring Kevin's life and legacy by pushing for safety improvements at Logan/Western and bicycling safety in neighborhoods throughout Chicago so no family is ever struck by this same tragedy again."
https://www.facebook.com/events/1694726000714464/?ref=newsfeed…
this upcoming October 29,30,31st. and I'm creating several altars to celebrate the lives of our lost ones in tradition with the holiday.With this said i was planning on creating a installation of 6 -8 ghost bikes that I have 4 of so far and have already painted white.What I'm asking if you would like to participate with images and names..or some other ideas you might have..I will be installing the show next week..and only have 1-2 days to do so..so if you can get back to me asap we can further discuss.Thanks..PeterAnyone have any ideas or able to offer assistance?…
amples:
Alicia Frantz: She heard everyday sounds as music
Mandy Annis: She finished God's Race in 24 years
Tyler Fabeck: Never ForgetJackie Michon: You Belong Among the Wildflowers (she loved Tom Petty and that song in particular.)
Jepson Livingston: He loved to cook
Trevor said:
Neill's friends and coworkers are definitely OK with a ghost bike. Is there someone they should contact? I can pass any info along to someone at Minimal, where Neill worked.
h' said:
Thanks, Trevor.
If there is an opportune moment to do so, can you please find out if friends/family would be OK with a ghost bike at the site? Trevor said:
Yeah, I sent the info to a couple of his friends and coworkers, I think they'll circulate as much as they can.h' said:
Can you let his friends/family/coworkers know about the vigil tonight at 9?Trevor said:
I'm not sure if Neil was a chainlink member, but he was a really nice guy. He was on his way to work on W. Fulton Market this morning. He didn't show up on time and didn't respond to text messages, unusual for him. Police showed up at his office to let people know what had happened. This is incredibly sad, and I know at least one of his coworkers who rode into work today was too shaken to ride home. My thoughts are with Neil's family and friends.Kevin C said:
Updated Tribune story identifies the victim as Neil Townsend.
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dy Waters, Hound Dog Taylor, Willie Dixon, Jimmy Reed, and many others while you learn how Blues set the table for Rock & Roll.
LIMITED TO 110 RIDERS!
Pre-register $20; Day of—if available!—$24.
We start at Blue Island Beer Co. and pedal on quiet streets to three historic cemeteries near the Cal-Sag Trail: Burr Oak, Restvale and Lincoln. Blues artist and historian Harmonica Neil meets us graveside to tell stories and share music of the artists resting below.
The route is an easy twenty miles at a relaxed, nobody-gets-left-behind pace. Refreshments and SAG support. We’ll return to Blue Island Beer Co. for snacks. If you hang around afterwards, you can catch Harmonica Neil and his blues band at a 5 PM show.
Blue Island Beer Co. is at 13357 Olde Western Ave in Blue Island; easy access from both the Metra Rock Island and Metra Electric lines.
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ot on Lincoln Ave south of Belmont. There were about 3 spaces open so I didn't need to parallel park, just pulled straight in and jumped right out of the car AFTER checking my side mirror for bikers in the bike lane. I quickly got out of the car and shut the door since it was raining. All of a sudden a biker pulled up next to me and yelled " What? YOU didn't see me coming??" I quickly apologized and told him sorry and he went on his way. I started thinking as I walked away; 1) He was nowhere near my car when I pulled in the spot or got out. Where the hell did he come from?? 2) He must have seen ME when I pulled in and had my lights on (middle of the day but raining) Why didn't he slow down??
3) As a fellow biker, I am always SUPER conscious of the bike lane area vs. people pulling in and out of spots. I always don't ride as fast as I can on busy streets in the middle of rush hour. In the rain!!
I think as bikers we are responsible for being in our bike lane too, no matter what the law says.
Say a ghost bike today and had to describe to my wife what it was without her freaking out about me riding so much. Super depressing
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1 main lane in each direction, and 1 bike lane in each direction. ON THE BRIDGE, though, there will be 2 main lanes in each direction, and 1 bike lane each direction. Thanks for that, right?
James Baum said:
[parts of comment removed]
The aggressive drivers will always take this opportunity to put the hammer down and move right into the new lane and try and pass a car or two to "get ahead." They will do this even in a bus stop or turning lane where parking stops momentarily and then just blow through the next intersection past this short opening and proceed to jam back left, cutting off traffic in this lane and causing brake lights to flash and sometimes even accidents to happen further back on the slinky effect caused by this inappropriate driving behavior.
These belly bulges need to be removed in many places where they exist. Many other areas of the city need a road diet to battle the belly bulge of the vestigial extra lane that needs to be slimmed down.
In my opinion these belly bulges are some of the the most dangerous areas to ride a bike in this city right behind the pinch-points like bridges and under/overpasses where there isn't enough room even for the existing traffic lanes and no extra space (protected or not) for us who chose to ride human-powered two wheeled transportation and don't want to end up as a ghost bike.
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y OnGuard unit: The Brute. The Cable is thicker than my thumb and has big wide ends so I can use the U-lock to secure it when it comes back from both ends of the bike after going through both tires. If you only use the U-lock to lock the frame it is not hard to get it around things. If the fame is locked well then they will usually pass on for something easier. In a perfect world I would use a second lock on the cable as just cutting the one U-lock gives them access to the whole bike but that extra weight of another lock is a bit much. Already I'm carrying around more weight in locks than most people's bikes weigh. I've yet to have had a locked bike stolen in 40 years of riding. The only bike I've ever had stolen is when a gang of thugs kicked me off of the bike and took it from me. That's when I was 10. We got the bike back as I ID'd them to the police. Of course they didn't DO anything to the kids who did it and they never paid to fix the damage they did to it as they ghost-rode it down the steep hill a dozen times but that is a different story...
Nothing has changed in decades. The bike theft problem is nothing new -nor is the complacency of the jack-boots who are too busy bothering peaceful people for petty stuff because they don't tend to shoot back while the real violent criminals are allowed to keep terrorizing the populace unhindered. Those guys are dangerous. The donut shop or harassing bicyclists on the LFP is much safer than messing with real criminals.
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le it seems the family wants "justice" but do they see their family member's death as being related to the cause of bicycle advocacy?
Typically one would let a family mourn and bury their loved one before reaching out.
Julie Hochstadter said:
well, has someone contacted the family? h' said:
I'm sure you realize that that would also be something one would want to clear with the family.
Some families of victims have been fairly clear that they did not want 'public' attention, including the family of Jackie Michon and initially Blanca Ocasio's mother. Jepson Livingston's mother had some poignant words in the Everyblock brouhaha about removing his ghost bike: "My son did not choose to die a public death."Serge Lubomudrov said:
. . . But imagine what a powerful display of solidarity and compassion would be if several hundred (thousand?) cyclists attended the funeral?
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