Wow. That's an excellent article. I guess there really are still journalists out there, it has seemed lately as if there weren't.
2010-12-01 13:19:57
24
P-G article on Ghost Bikes
Nice coverage today for the cycling community. Thanks to all of the advocates out there!
Ghost Bikes: Rough memorials honor cyclists killed while riding
It doesn't cost much to make a stripped-down white bicycle to leave as a memorial near the spot where a rider died.
The bike is free. The spray paint costs maybe 98 cents a can, three or four of which will cover a bike. Pulling off the bike's chain, its brakes, its pedals, flattening the tires or filling them with concrete so there is nothing of worth to steal -- those take little energy. What is left is pristine and ethereal. Clean.
Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10335/1107199-51.stm#ixzz16reQFuUp
2010-12-01 12:57:00
yes nice article...
2010-12-01 13:26:43
Wow. Fantastic article. Props to Nick and Rob - both very articulate and right on point. Really, really great.
2010-12-01 13:29:34
Just read it .... Very nice!
2010-12-01 13:50:17
nice to see this.
anyone know where in the paper it falls if you pick up the print edition? just curious.
good job nick.
2010-12-01 14:03:29
so does this date back to interviews done at the ghost bike re-install back in august?
2010-12-01 14:14:34
Front page of the magazine section with a full color photo!!!!!!!!!!! So awesome!!!!! Also, mention above the fold on the front page in the upper bar where they say what's inside today's paper. 
2010-12-01 14:15:28
nice article. hey - the byline at the bottom said the author also writes for a food oriented blog, we should make sure he gets an invite to the rides where we tour various restaurants (tour de taco comes to mind) or whatever. Aside from bike rides being awesome, and us being awesome, and the food being awesome, he might find it interesting (personally or professionally).
2010-12-01 14:39:59
i wish someone would take the line that cyclists and bikers should be afforded the same consideration from drivers... there's such a strong lobby for protecting bikers, who are not a whole lot different from cyclists except that they can go the same speed as vehicles, and have the reputation of badassness versus our reputation of smugness and wanting to be like europeans. 'muricans don't like that none.
so often i see the "watch out for motorcycles" sticker on the back of cars. it's simple and to-the-point. i'd like to see bike-pgh print up something similar, as opposed to the smug "i don't have to pay for gas but you do, nyah nyah" thing which, with all due respect, honestly doesn't help.
2010-12-01 14:46:18
I saw a car with a "watch for motorcycles" sticker, ans was tempted to get out my sharpie and add "& bicycles."
2010-12-01 14:56:18
@noah they have "i share the road with cyclists" stickers. stef has one on her car. taking out the "i" might make it a little less smug and read more as a directive though.
2010-12-01 15:42:50
@ noah - we have bumper stickers that say: "I share the road with bicyclists" & "Look twice save a life, cyclists are everywhere"
2010-12-01 15:49:41
most of the smug ones are for your bike that no one is going to see while you're riding, just parked
2010-12-01 15:50:43
yeah i mis-spoke. i know there are the 'share the road' type ones. i guess i was circuitously bitching about the more smug ones which i suppose is a discussion for another day.
2010-12-01 15:52:28
ah!!!! so glad it was prominently featured in the print paper!!!!
2010-12-01 16:37:47
Nice. Glad someone is picking up the ghost bike torch around town (but not so glad that it's necessary).
There will be an interview of Meaghan Wilbur by a local rider/writer in the next issue of Bicycle Times (#9, Feb.1).
2010-12-01 19:00:19
I met with Jacob Quinn Sanders last month. He seemed to be a great guy and a very good journalist. We actually talked for a few hours.
The print version is also in larger type than the rest of the page.
I will be looking forward to the article with Meaghan. She is another great person who is working hard to get these stories noticed.
2010-12-01 21:01:29
Want to read even more about Ghost Bikes? We published this article back in January 2009. It has a couple of shots from the 2004 Pittsburgh deployment, along with reflections from various people across the country on how Ghost Bikes have affected them.
http://www.urbanvelo.org/issue11/urbanvelo11_p56-57.html
Useless trivia: While St. Louis is widely and correctly credited with the first Ghost Bike deployment, we had the second one. The St Louis version was orginally called "Broken Bikes, Broken Lives". I believe Karen (KBrooks) and I were in the same room with some other folks when the "Ghost Bikes" name was coined right here in Pittsburgh, along with the first website and widespread media coverage. I remember being interviewed by the AP and some nice British woman from the BBC amongst some others when we first deployed them here.
2010-12-01 21:20:42
Correct!
It was Patrick Van Der Tuin that started "Broken Bikes, Broken Lives." The original St. Louis website is still up: http://www.pbase.com/terbo/brokenbikes
2010-12-01 21:39:19
Brad, did Jacob Quinn Sanders contact you about the article? I gave your contact info to him.
2010-12-02 18:42:43
No. That's fine, I've not been involved in any Ghost Bike activity for some time.
I can't believe the original website is still up. Awesome.
2010-12-02 20:55:24
Wonderful article!! I am happy to see the coverage for the bicycle community!!
2010-12-03 09:27:24
Jacob (the guy who wrote the article) moved here a couple months ago and my gf and I have been introducing him to the city. Really glad to see that happen to turn out with what I'd call the best local article on ghost bikes yet.
2010-12-03 16:00:26