Unfortunately for the Louisville bike community, we were past due for Ghostbike memorials so the first of many to come have been deployed.

Upcoming Bike events in Louisville:
Bike Night @ Derby City Espresso
Monday, July 28 @ 8pm
Ride leaves at 7pm from Waterfront Park at Floyd Street
40oz Fun Run
Friday, August 22 @ midnight
Leaves from the top of Iroquois Park - don't be scared
May 27, 2008
Ghost Bikes appear, from LEO Weekly
The Clark Memorial Bridge — Second Street Bridge to Louisvillians — is also a thoroughfare for many cyclists in the area who bike to work and ride for exercise. But one white bicycle on the bridge remains unmanned and immobile. This “ghost bike” is a memorial for George “Chips” Cronen, who was killed last summer while cycling across the bridge.
The bicycle is stark white, and stands out against the dark steel girder to which it is chained. A wooden sign attached with black hand-painted words simply reads, “Bicyclist George ‘Chips’ Cronen was struck & killed near this site 07.03.07,” and at the bottom in white, “ghostbikes.org.”
Cronen’s ghost bike is not the only one of its kind in Louisville; a memorial was also placed at the intersection of Grinstead Drive and Lexington Road in honor of Karola Stede, who was killed on her bike there in 2003. But less than 24 hours after it was placed, that bike vanished.
According to cycling advocate Jackie Green of Bike Couriers Bike Shop, “removing the ghost bikes is like vandalizing a grave.”
Many believe the city removed the memorial, but according to Kerri Richardson, a spokesperson for Mayor Abramson, the bike was simply moved to another location because it was deemed a traffic hazard.
“People were slowing down while driving and reading the sign,” said Richardson, who explained that Sheriff John Aubrey had the bike moved shortly after it was placed. Richardson said that as long as roadside memorials don’t inhibit traffic flow in any way, the city would not move or remove them. These memorials do not violate any city codes, and no permit is needed to place them.
Ghost bikes were first created in St. Louis in 2003, and are found in over 35 cities worldwide. A grassroots effort, ghostbikes.org gives a complete “how-to” list for building one, and the process typically costs less than $20.
“It doesn’t matter who made (the ghost bikes),” Green said. “It’s important that they’re there.” —Jane Mattingly
May 22, 2008
Ride of Silence covered in Louisville's Courier Journal:
'Ghost bikes' raise awareness
Somber memorials found worldwide
By Emily Udell
eudell@courier-journal.com
Some 50 bicyclists last night glided silently past a ghostly white bicycle chained near the spot on the Clark Memorial Bridge where George "Chips" Cronen was killed last year.
They were taking part in the "Ride of Silence," designed to honor cyclists who have died on public roads and raise awareness that bicycles share the road with other vehicles.
"It's going to take a change in culture here to make it a safe place to ride," said George Cronen, whose father died July 3 after he was struck by a van, then hit a steel girder, while riding in the southbound lane of the bridge.
The elder Cronen, who was 57, used the bridge to commute to work and was wearing a helmet at the time of his death.
"We were all cyclists before we became drivers," his son said. "We get our licenses and we forget."
Just a month before Cronen's death, a 56-year-old Louisville man was hit and killed by an off-duty Metro Police officer on Dixie Highway. No charges were filed against Officer Shannon Harris, but Officer Phil Russell, a police spokesman, said the incident was under investigation by the department's office of public integrity and professional standards.
The Ride of Silence began in 2003 in Dallas and has since spread to cities across the globe. "Ghost Bikes," a loosely affiliated group that got its start in St. Louis in 2003, places bicycles painted stark white to commemorate cyclists killed on public streets. The white bicycles have since appeared in cities around the world.
Louisville officials have been working to make the city's roadways safer for cyclists by creating bike lanes and installing signs and markings on the bridge and streets throughout the city to caution motorists.
Some say more could be done.
"I don't feel safe riding on the road," said Melissa Eaves, 27, who took part in the 10-mile ride. "There aren't enough bike lanes."
Jered Golladay, 33, said he doesn't ride much on streets and was disappointed to find recently that some portions of the Louisville Riverwalk Trail were impassable by bicycle.
"The opening of the riverwalk was a great first step, and I hope the momentum's not lost."
Before yesterday's ride began, Cronen's voice caught on the word "father" as he read a poem posted on the Ride of Silence Web site that began: "Tonight we number many but ride as one/ In honor of those not with us, friends, mothers, fathers, sisters, sons."
When he finished reading, the cyclists headed east down River Road, silent except for a stereo in the basket of one rider's bike that played "Amazing Grace."
Reporter Emily Udell can be reached at (502) 582-4199.