I was making my usual Sat morning breakfast dash and traffic forced me to find an alternate path home. When I pulled up to the intersection of Silver Sands and West Avenue I first thought someone was trying to sell a White Bike but then thought why here?
Then I saw the sign and quickly understood. I had no camera so I went home and reflected about what I had seen and decided to photo document the bike. I took several frames and then came home to reflect and do research.
Devon Smith used to ride to and from work, 10 miles each day on his bicycle. He was an avid bicyclist and took all the usual precautions including wearing protective gear. Then on
Sept. 26, 2012 his life suddenly ended.
A teenager driving way too fast hit Devin on his blind side. The force of impact caused Devin's helmet to come off as well as his shoes and Devin was dead just like that. The truck that hit Devin then hit a road sign, kept going north and then hit a utility pole, which broke
in half, then went about another 50 yards before it stopped.
This bike has been repainted white which is why I call it the ghost bike. And across the street was another memorial - a white bicycle rim and tire with flowers in it. Traffic was too heavy for me to safely shoot that angle so I saved that frame for another day.
Now if you study the frame you will see three signs. The obvious one we have already talked about it is the other two that are driving me crazy. The one up high is a faded garage sale sign and the yellow one on edge by the front wheel is a open house sign or something similar. Where I am headed with this is that the price of a human life has gotten very cheap in SA. One would think they would not desecrate a memorial such as this one. Shame on them..
Lastly please take extra care and watch out for bicycles. They seem to be everywhere and some riders do not understand how they can "disappear" in shadows or tree lines. I recently watched a rider in the hill country. My brother was with me and he also rides so I pointed out the obvious problem with the riders attire. It was a clear day around 1:00 PM and the rider was wearing very dark colors on a dark bike. In the open the rider was very visible but when he passed into some shadows cast by the trees he disappeared! I knew he was there but only because I had seen him out in the open.
Keep on Clicking,
Fred
