A lack of inspiration and bicycle newsworthy items has me a bit stymied. But except for last month’s post on 7/11 (the date, not the 7-Eleven convenience store in the southern US), I’ve been writing a post on the date where the month and the day match for a while. So, to keep that going here’s a pictorial of the number of recent ghost bikes with some thoughts that I have passed by on my daily rides around town.

(Come back later, I hope to have added some more photos and comments.)

Austin is known as a safe city for cycling, but the truth is that anywhere that cars, trucks, buses, etc. interact with people on bikes, people do get hit. Actually, it happens here quite a bit, maybe in the hundreds per year. Most of those survive, and don’t make the news. But some have permanent injuries.

A few of those do die. According to news reports, some of the fatalities  are victims of hit and runs that never gets solved, sadly. Fortunately it’s only a few a year on average.

When possible, a ghost bike will be erected. What is that? Something that started in the 2000s, possibly in St Louis, Missouri, and has spread around the world and continued since then. A bike is stripped down of most usable parts and then painted white. It’s a stark reminder to drivers to slow down and share the road. It’s also a memorial for family members and friends and people who didn’t know the victim to pay their respects. As the daily cyclist with over 50,000 miles bicycle, I know I would want a ghost bike if I ever killed by a car.

This bike is for a young man named Elias Jurado. It used to be down the service road of the highway. He had some mental illness and for some reason was riding on the service road when he was killed. Parts of the bike were missing and eventually the rest was apparently stolen. Fortunately, it got replaced and moved to a nearby intersection where it’s got a lot more visibility.

This bike also appears to be a replacement for a young guy named Cody Johnson. That’s because it used to be down the street and then one day it disappeared. Months later, this one that showed up a block away. He used to work at Bicycle Sport Shop before Trek bought it out. This one was put out with both a chain and a u-lock, so it has remained in place so far.

On a recent ride I stumbled across this ghost bike which I had never seen before. Wonderfully adorned with the word love and a lot of flowers, it was also burned in part, which is weird. Sadly a recent car -bike crash happened literally three blocks away. The road it is on really needs more safety features for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The cool thing about this ghost bike is that the homeowner didn’t remove it. It’s in the right of way but I could see some anti-bike people might freak out about it. Also, since the last time I saw it, somebody came along and put this piece of metal art on it. People do that sometimes. It’s touching, because maybe they we’re a friend or family member of the victim. It’s even more moving if they didn’t know the person. It’s just a nice thing to do.

This tall bike was the actual bike owned by the person who died. He went by the name Joey Jello. It has been there quite a while and looked to be in danger of being removed. That’s because the property it’s next to looks like it’s going to be developed. It’s been a vacant lot for some time, though. Fortunately, somebody recently repainted it. That might help the developer think twice before they remove it.

This bike has been replaced several times, but this time it’s stayed. It was for a cross-country cyclist named Keith Culver. He was an older gentleman who had run a marathon on every single continent including Antarctica. Keith was with a group when the car plowed into them. It happened right next to the Tesla Factory was (and still is) and where the Google self-driving car facilty now is, ironically. Other cyclists in the group were injured, one badly, but he didn’t make it. The type of car was found on a video or from witnesses reported it, but the driver fled the scene and was never identified. Sad.

I hope these ghost bikes and the others around town remind drivers to share the road, don’t drive drunk or distracted, leave early, and slow down so everybody can arrive alive. Wherever you live, if you’re driving a car, please be kind to people on bikes and be sure to do the same.

---

For more information, there’s a group that has tried to replace and maintain more Austin ghost bikes in the last few years. They have a web page with a bike map, a Facebook page and group, and an Instagram page. I’m pretty sure they take and need donations and volunteers.

Austin Ghost Bike Project

---

Copyright 2025 A Dude Abikes. All rights reserved.