Bikes Take Back the Street

Bike Memorial Ride
September 1998

My first encounter with an activist form of public memorial was after my friend John died in a bike accident on one of the highways in Toronto. A group of cyclists, known as Advocacy for the Respect of Cyclists, previously unknown to us, organized a memorial ride. I was grateful we were able to join the ride and be swept along by this action that felt so much like the right thing to do — although we would never have thought of it in the state of shock that we were in. The ride itself was a powerful experience, riding with the bike couriers and the coolest cyclists in the city — it really felt like claiming a place on the street in an assertive and peaceful way.

We rode to the spot of the accident and everyone laid their bike down on the street, closing the highway for a few moments in respect for our friend.  Laying down our bikes in honour and memory of our friend felt like more than a gesture, it was a public action of reclaiming. For a few minutes, the highway was quiet in acknowledgement of the tragic loss of life.

I still miss John all these years later, and I regret all the difference that his life would have made in the world if he were still in it.  But thanks to ARC, a few of us, including John’s family, were able to express our loss in community, in public space, in a way that made a difference — in a way that he would have approved.

It was an act of mourners.  It was an act of reclaiming.