Why an Atlanta man drove 6 hours to place a 'ghost bike' memorial in Apex – WRAL

Why an Atlanta man drove 6 hours to place a ‘ghost bike’ memorial in Apex  WRAL

Dave Mathews started placing "ghost bikes" at crash sites for cyclists who lost their lives 15 years ago. Today, he placed the 217th bike in honor of Patrick Turner, the Cary man who was killed on Saturday. Dave Mathews drove nearly six hours from Atlanta to a road in Apex on Wednesday morning, carrying the pieces of a memorial for a man he had never met. By the time he left, a white bicycle stood along Optimist Farm Road, marked with the name of 63-year-old Patrick Turner, who was killed in a crash involving a group of cyclists last week. The bicycle is known as a "ghost bike," a roadside memorial placed in honor of someone killed while riding.

For Mathews, it was the 217th memorial he has placed over the past 15 years through his nonprofit BikeFriendlyATL. His mission began after he was struck by a car while riding his own bicycle. After his friend was killed in a separate accident, Mathews placed his first ghost bike in Atlanta. Since then, he has traveled across multiple states to remember cyclists killed on the road and bring attention to the dangers they face. "I knew putting a ghost bike out would matter, but then I started thinking- what good is one," Mathews said. Still, he continues the work, hoping each