You may have seen white bicycles attached to street signs, trees, fences or outside of businesses while traveling about Southern California. These “ghost bikes” are placed to let you and others know that a cyclist died at that location. Like tombstones, ghost bikes may also be adorned with flowers, candles, personal photos and other objects left by family and friends. In 2003, a bike mechanic created the first ghost bike after witnessing a fatal bicycle accident in St. Louis, Missouri. After the accident, he painted a bicycle white and placed it where the cyclist had died. The idea has spread to dozens of US cities and foreign countries. Thousands of ghost bike memorials have been placed around the world. Ghost Bikes, an organization that places these bicycles, has chapters in Southern California. Many members of Ghost Bikes have lost loved ones and friends to bicycle accidents. In recent articles published by…
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