As the number of cyclists on the streets of Oakland has grown, cycling deaths remain rare.  Only one cyclist was killed in all of 2008.  Waves of concern recently radiated through the cycling community when two cyclists were killed in collisions in less than one month.

On April 30, Peter Webster, 60, owner of Guitar O Rama on Telegraph Avenue, was hit and killed while riding his bicycle around 6 p.m.  On May 19 – the same day as the national Ride of Silence, commemorating cyclists killed in traffic accidents, Erik Fitzpatrick, 35, a law student at USF, was fatally injured when a driver in a parked car opened a door in front of him, throwing him into traffic and under the wheels of a bus.

Peter Webster is remembered as a brilliant, quirky musician and a cherished part of the character of Telegraph Avenue, according to the many comments posted after his death.  Erik Fitzgerald “worked to make the world a better place, for ex-drug addicts, for poor children, and even for death row inmates” according to his wife’s memorial post. 

A tribute to Peter Webster has appeared at the corner where he died:  a bicycle painted white and adorned with flowers, photos, letters, tokens of a life lost.  On Sunday, June 13, WOBO sponsors a commemorative ride, starting at Webster’s memorial at 52nd and Market and riding to MacArthur Boulevard at Patterson Street, where a ghost bike will be placed in memory of Erik Fitzpatrick.

The first ghost bike was painted white and chained on the site of a bicycle/car collision in 2003 in St. Louis, Missouri.  Since then, the memorial custom has spread to 21 countries and 35 states in the US.  At least three ghost bikes were previously placed in the East Bay.  One for Matthew Sperry, a musician who was killed in 2003, remains in place on Stanford Street at Vallejo in Emeryville.

Ghost bikes serve as a locus for the remembrances of friends and the sympathy of strangers.  They serve as a somber reminder to drivers to share the road responsibly with cyclists. 

Rick Rickard, acting executive director of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, has a balanced view of the traffic situation. “Most motorists are considerate, especially in the Bay Area.  A few motorists don’t understand that they don’t need to share the road with cyclists.  It would be nice if we could find a way to educate them.”  Perhaps the two new memorials to fallen riders can serve as a small part of that education.

All are welcome to join the Ghost Ride in memory of these two passings.