So, when a cyclist dies in a car accident in the city, they put out something called a “Ghost Bike”. This is the first one I’ve ever seen. It was kind of wierd because, on Connecticut Ave, there are a bazillion bikes chained to anything that looks remotely permanent. You’re walking down the sidewalk, dodging people who are functionally deaf thanks to their earbuds and those that seem crazy thanks to their bluetooth dongles 
and this completely white bike emerges as the crowd flows around it….and it takes a minute for it to register: this is a Ghost Bike. Somebody died – right here. The fact that this soul happened to be on a bike is tangentially important to a cyclist but not as central as it is to humanity at large that a human had their existence terminated right where you are. Think about that. It’s kind of surreal.
In the case of the pictured bike, there were lots of little notes tucked into the chain that holds the bike to the pole. It’s pretty moving. You almost want to look around to see if there are any signs left of the event or unroll one of the notes but realize, at some level, it would be impolitic to do so but it’s a powerful motivator. This event, in all of it’s forms and seasons ties all of us together – death is the one event, save birth, that we will all share.
On a lighter note, yes, I do realize that many more people die in car accidents but painting cars white and putting them in the road is just impractical…..and I’m a bicycling nut.
August 3, 2011 at 6:21 am
Interesting observation. With that in mind, one wonders if there was some kind of horrible accident involving a peleton on the corner of Portner & Sudley in the distant past.
August 3, 2011 at 10:46 am
I miss the white bikes. But then, I love street art. It is a part of the Old Town streetscape plan, I thought, because a few years ago I suggested to HMI/Museum/Community Development that they do what Lexington NC has done with pigs and Winchester has done with apples — only have little train locomotives for kids to sit on — like six or so of them, spaced out around town. It draws people to seek them out, take photos, pause and look in store windows…..
http://www.lexingtonnc.net/news/newsitem.asp?id=5
August 3, 2011 at 10:49 am
Here’s photos of the pigs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigs_in_the_City
Trains … one of our big draws and the historic significance of Manassas in the Civil War.
August 4, 2011 at 8:06 am
In the spirit of what Cindy is discussing, have you seen the Hokie birds (I’m sure they have some name) around Blacksburg? Somebody sells them (I suspect as a VA Tech sports support) then each is decorated by the purchaser and erected in front of business or home. So there is control of the medium (all the birds are same) but not the expression. Maybe HMI or someone could contract some sort of standardized trains, various engines and cars, and folks could buy and decorate themselves and erect/display. Would have yo work out the logistics of how down in Old Town though do as not to block sidewalks (limit 1 per occupancy, etc.).