Nashville, Cairo, St Louis, Chicago, and Madison...

From Kentucky I headed to Nashville. I knew that Nashville only had one ghost bike, and was out of the way, but I really wanted to see Nashville. I had been to the Grand Ole Opry as a 10 year old kid and that was cool, but it's Nashville...it has to be cool right?? 

I am trying to cover a lot of ground, there is not time to "hang out" and do things in the cities I visit (and my budget only has space for gas, lodging and a small amount of food), but I do feel that in driving around a city, I get a "feel" for it...enough that I can decide if it is a city I would like to return to. I was disappointed by Nashville. With the exception of the downtown area it was sprawling strip mall after sprawling strip mall. Maybe I am spoiled by living in San Francisco and spending so much time in New York, cities you can walk and don't have to drive to get anywhere. I could not imagine living in Nashville without a car. 

The ghost bike I found was for Michael Rivas at 28th and Old Hickory St. After I had shot the bike, I noticed a woman changing the water that the flowers were in. I stopped and chatted with her for a few moments. She had known Michael, said he was around 30 years old, and she told me that his parents lived right around the corner if I wanted to go knock on their door. I chose not to, I felt it could be intrusive. I gave her my card, and she said if she saw them, that she would pass it along.

Michael Rivas ghost bike, 28th at Old Hickory, Nashville, TN

My next stop was to be Cairo, IL. I did some research, and all the hotels in that city were one star or less, and after my experience in Zanesville, I didn't want to risk another motel that I felt compelled to check for bed bugs. I used priceline, name your price to find a good deal on a hotel right on the river in Metropolis, IL. You heard me right, Metropolis, the home of Superman! 

Metropolis, IL sunset

Metropolis, IL sunrise

On my way out of town, I drove by the huge Superman statue in front of the City Hall. Too funny!

Besides ghost bikes, I have been shooting a lot of dilapidated buildings and such. I had done some research and found out about Cairo, IL. It was supposed to basically be a ghost town. When I arrived, there were more people living there than I had expected, but I did find my share of dilapidated buildings. I didn't take many photos with my phone, so you all will have to wait for the real stuff when I go through all my photos taken with the real camera. 

I did however take a picture of an election sign that I found to be very ironic, creepy and funny. Do people really run for coroner?

Cairo, IL, Buchie for coroner

While in Cairo, I did meet a man that worked for the newspaper, and he told me I should go to "The Lost Cross", which was supposed to be the oldest standing punk house. It was in Carbondale, which was not really out of my way to St. Louis, so I went. It was uneventful. Nothing to shoot, unless I was able to get in, but there were people living there. Under different circumstances it may have been a cool thing to get into.

ONWARD!

I was going to skip St. Louis all together, but my friend Steven convinced me that I should come. There were no longer any ghost bikes there (Such a shame, because that is where it all started in 2003),  but Steven said I could shoot many, many dilapidated buildings, plus I could save a little money on food and hotel. 

Steven said I should try and come up through the River Rd, and I should be able to find plenty of stuff that was falling apart. I tried to find it, but never did. Lots and lots of farm land. Corn, corn, and more corn. Wait, what's that?? Oh, it's just more corn.

I eventually spotted these weird cave like things from the side of the road, and pulled into investigate. It was an area called the Salt Lick Trails. At the head of the trails, it had a really cool building that was falling apart.

Salt Lick Trails, somewhere in Illinois

I also found a graveyard of sorts. A bunch of broken down tractors and other crazy equipment and parts. Here is a picture of some dilapidated Cushman's (you know..the meter maid cars).

tractor graveyard, somewhere in Illinois

I arrived that night in St Louis, and in the morning Steven took me to North St Louis. There were so many buildings with holes and abandon that it looked like a bomb had gone off. Even the neighborhood in Baltimore that was mostly abandon buildings was all boarded up. No Boards here. I shot lots of good stuff, but you will have to wait to see it. Then he took around the rest of St Louis. We had dinner with his parents, and I was off to Chicago in the morning.

On my way out, I found the River Road Steven had told me about. There wasn't much for me to shoot, but I did find a cool building with the roof caved in that I was able to get into in Pearl, IL.

cool Chicago poster that Christine had

I arrived in Chicago to my friends Christine and Michael's house around 7:00pm. They took me out to eat and got me drunk!!

Good times at the Hopleaf with Christine and Mike.

It was lots of fun, but none of us were very excited about our 6am wake up time. I headed out and started shooting the Chicago ghost bikes at dawn. I had 8 to find and shoot, plus a stupid doctors appointment in the middle of the day (UTI--no fun).

Clinton Miceli ghost bike, 900 block of LaSalle, Chicago, IL

I actually took pictures of this bike in March. It was decorated completely differently, both times it you could tell it was done with love. There was also a planter in front of the bike this time.

Clinton Miceli ghost bike, 900 block of LaSalle, Chicago, IL

Next was the one for Patrick Stack

Patrick Thomas Stack ghost bike, Huron at Orleans, Chicago, IL

This one may be the most run down of all the ones I found in Chicago, but it still had soul and impact, even being tucked away under a freeway overpass.

Tyler Fabeck ghost bike, Western at Logan Blvd, Chicago, IL

The next one might be the most elaborately decorated bike I have come across.

Liza Whitacre ghost bike, Wellington at Damen, Chicago, IL

Liza Whitacre ghost bike, Wellington at Damen, Chicago, IL

While shooting this one, my memory card became full, so it was time to go and reload; plus it was almost time for my doctor's appointment, and the light was getting too harsh. I might have been late otherwise.

Mandy Annis ghost bike, W Armitage at N Kedzie, Chicago, IL

The crazy thing about the Mandy ghost bike, is that it was on the diagonal corner of this ghost bike for another person.

Blanca Ocasio ghost bike, W Armitage at N Kedzie, Chicago, IL

I love that they put that he (Jespson Livingston) loved to cook on his sign and attached a spatula to his ghost bike.

Jepson Livingston ghost bike, Diversey at Avers Ave, Chicago, IL

There will also be a new ghost bike for Neil Townsend installed at Wells and Oak. I believe the ceremony for it will be this upcoming Friday, October 19. I am not positive of the time, but will a little internet research, I am sure you could figure it out.

Once I was done shooting, I went to grab some thai food with my little cousin, Lucas and his wife, Sam. We had a great visit. In the morning I grabbed some breakfast with Christine, and was off to Madison, Wisconsin.

Originally, I was not going to trek to Madison, because there was only one ghost bike there, and it was opposite the direction I needed to go for everything else. Unfortunately, just last week 2 cyclists were killed, and a friend of mine was making arrangements to install two ghost bikes for them. I arrived to town and shot the ghost bike for Dave Nieft.

David Nieft ghost bike, Baldwin at Wilson, Madison, WI

I made it to my friend Dave and Athena's house. We went to dinner then added some flowers and signs to the bikes that he had painted. We would install them early in the morning and then I would hit the road.

It was raining in the morning.

 Tyler Knipfer ghost bike, Huxley at Aberg, Madison, WI

Carrie Pete ghost bike, Highway M near Governor Nelson Park, Madison, WI

Placing these bikes was a very intense experience for me. I know how much they have affected me, but to be a part of something that I know will affect others was a little overwhelming. I was honored.

From Madison I headed to South Bend, Indiana. There was a slight possibility that there would be three bikes there. I was only counting on one, because I had read an article about it being there in May of this year. It was not there, and neither were the other two.

ONWARD!!

I spent the night in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and thought for sure I could conquer the entire state in one day!!  Ha ha! I didn't do too bad, but I kept getting sidetracked shooting something that most of you would think is disgusting...road kill. I think maybe I am spending too much time alone...

ghost bike, Bridge at Fremont, Grand Rapids, Michigan

The next bike I looked for was in Ionia, Michigan. I thought for sure it would be there. It was just placed 10 days ago on October 5th. It was gone, and this was all that remained, some flowers, and an angel figurine that I don't think you can see in this photo.

where the ghost bike once was for Kelsie Henning, Washington at Pleasant, Ionia, Michigan

I had a little better luck in Ann Arbor, and Canton, Michigan.

Tim Pincikowski ghost bike, Maple Rd near Elisworth, Ann Arbor, Michigan

ghost bike, Michigan at Haggerty, Canton, Michigan

Tommorow I do Orion Township and Detroit, and make my way as close to Toranto, Canada as I can before I fall asleep!!

Virginia and beyond...

I feel as if I want to update this every day, but as the day begins, I try to get out there as early as possible to catch all of the daylight, and when I arrive at a place to sleep, I am just too exhausted to sit and write. Today, I will start my day a little later in an effort to catch you all up on my adventures since I last posted.

From Virginia Beach, VA, I headed to Richmond, VA, a cute town, that I wouldn't mind spending another day or two in. I first looked for the bike that was to be located on Westover Hills Road. It wasn't there. I did however take a moment to walk onto the bridge to take a better look at the James River, that is until I discovered the 18 million spider webs filled with spiders of all shapes and sizes along the walk way. Those of you that know me well, know that if there are spiders near, they will bite me (I get somewhere around 100 spider bites a year). This bridge was not the place for me. 

Along my way to the next ghost bike possibility, I saw this run down house. Here is where I make the disclaimer that you all should forgive the quality of some of the pictures I post while on this trip. All the ones I am posting are taken with my iPhone. I will not be posting ones taken with the "real" cameras until I get back and can go through everything.

3906 North Ave, Richmond, VA

Next I find the ghost bike placed on the corner of River Road and Bridgeway Road for Anne Riley.

ghost bike for Anne Riley, Richmond, VA

From Richmond, I head to West Virginia. I was going to forgo West Virginia, to save time, but according to google maps, I wouldn't lose too much time if I detoured there, plus I had a good gut feeling that the bikes were there.

on the way to West Virginia

The drive was one of the most magnificently beautiful drives I have ever been on. I drove through the George Washington National Forest. The leaves were changing colors, it was truly breathtaking, this crappy iPhone picture does not even come close to doing it justice.

George Washington National Forest, West Virginia

Light was running out, and I knew that if I were to find the bikes it would be dark. I chose to look for the first one, then I would stay the night and find the second one in the morning. I found the first one, and it was very very dark. I was thinking I would need to do exposures of longer than a minute to get an image at all, and without a cable release, who knew if they would be in focus. After a little trial and error, I used passing cars headlights to help illuminate the bike and was able to make some images. Hopefully, they will be in focus, it was too dark to really tell. Here is an awful photo of the bike taken with my phone.

ghost bike for Daniel Duncan, Buckhannon, West Virginia

My friend had warned me that West Virginia is a weird place...

I stopped into a motel to see how much the rates were. $75. Too much for my blood, but even had it been affordable, I would not have stayed. I have seen some weird things in my life, and have been around many "not savory" situations, but I can honestly say that I have never felt as creeped out and unsafe as I did leaving that motel lobby; like I would end up chained in a basement as the town's sex slave or something.

The second ghost bike would not make it into my project, and it didn't matter that I was extremely tired, I was driving to Pittsburgh that night!!

PITTSBURGH!!

I let myself sleep in and got a bit of a late start, but I knew this town would be easy. I had some email correspondence that let me know there were only 2 ghost bikes in Pittsburgh, and I knew where to find them. 

Here are a couple of things I found that I liked along the way. Under a bridge...

33rd at Spring, Pittsburgh, PA

and a mural next to some boarded up row houses with incredible juxtaposition.

Mural at N Graham and Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA

Here is the ghost bike for James Price on the 7500 block of Penn Ave.

ghost bike for James Price, Pittsburgh, PA

And the ghost bike for Rui Hui Lin located at Meyran and Louisa.

ghost bike for Rui Hui Lin, Pittsburgh, PA

My next stop was to be Columbus, OH. I was too tired on my drive to make it there, so I started pulling over to find a place to stay. Every place I tried was no vacancy, or $100. No dice. I began to think that this would be the night I would end up sleeping in the car. I tried priceline, and found a terrible motel in Zanesville, OH. Definitely the worst place I have stayed...probably in my life. I even checked for bed bugs... But I still had dreams about them. Needless to say, I woke early, went for a run, and was on my way to Columbus, OH.

I believe this was Saturday, October 6. I was not sure what I would find in Columbus. I did not get any confirmations that there were still any ghost bikes there, but it was on the way to the next stop, so I thought I take a chance. I chose to look for the three most recently placed bikes. 

The one at Snouffer Rd at Asheville Pard drive for Michail Sonney was not there. The one at Sawmill Rd at Sawbury Rd for Jeffery Tyler Stevenson, was also gone. But in it's place was a cross made from skateboards.

memorial cross for Jeffery Stevenson where a ghost bike once was, in Columbus, OH

The ghost bike for Elissa Hatfield on the 5400 block of Fisher Road was also not there, but in its place stood not one, but 4 crosses. I find in interesting how people will let a cross stand as a memorial for years, but that a ghost bike memorial seems to have a short shelf life.

Crosses where a ghost bike once stood for Elissa Hatfield, Columbus, OH

From Columbus I headed to Vandalia, OH. I had gotten word that there was a permanent ghost bike at Kenbrook and Perry. When I arrived, I realized that this bike was on someone's lawn, so before I started crawling all over someone's property, I went to the house to seek permission. I spoke with the brother of the woman (Becky Meade) who lost her life, told him about my project, and gave him my card. He told me they had the ghost bike at the crash site, that they had even gotten a permit for it, but the woman that hit her lived right near there and had a fit about the bike being there. Evidently the woman rushed ahead to make the turn instead of letting Becky pass and she hit and killed her. They decided the bike would be better at home, and they made a memorial to Becky in their yard for the world to see. Honestly, this may have been the most touching ghost bike memorial I have seen to date. I felt blessed and honored to be able to photograph it.

ghost bike for Becky Meade, Vandalia, OH

Here is a close up:

ghost bike for Becky Meade, Vandalia, OH

From here I headed just short way over to Philadelphia at Bon Air Dr. in Dayton, OH, where I did not find a ghost bike, but some flowers and a cross. Notice that the sign pole is bent.

crash site of Becky Meade, where a ghost bike stood for just a short time, Dayton, OH

After taking some photos, I sat on the trunk of the car and started looking at my phone. Within a few minutes, the woman that lived on the corner came home. I asked her how long the bike had been gone. She told me that it had only been there for a week or two. The family had asked her permission to put the bike there. I had a suspicion... so I asked her if the person that hit the cyclist lived near by. She pointed across the street and said right over there! At this point, I realized that I was standing at the crash site of Becky Meade, who's ghost bike I had just shot in Vandalia.

Later that night Mary Klinedinst-Laughter sent me a message thanking me for making the stop at Becky's ghost bike. I was touched.

I planned to drive to Cincinnati that evening and shoot the bikes there in the morning, but I arrived with so much daylight left, I shot the two bikes there. I had been in touch with people in Cincinnati, so I knew it would be easy to find them. Unfortunately, they are recent tragedies.

One for Ronald Richardson, 1301 California Ave, in the Oakland neighborhood of Cincinnati. Friends and family had not only left flowers and such at this site, but many left drinks they had in commemoration of his life. I would tell that he will be missed, and toasted on many more occasions.

ghost bike for Ronald Richardson, Cincinnati, OH

The sky was doing wonderous things when I shot the one for Andrew Gast on the 600 block of Wilmer.

ghost bike for Andrew Gast, Cincinnati, OH

That Saturday definitely marks the most successful day I have had so far.

ONWARD TO KENTUCKY...

I had confirmation on the bike for Rick Kerr on Russell Cave Road at Park Place in Lexington, KY.

ghost bike for Rick Kerr, Lexington, KY

I spent half the day driving from Lexington to Louiseville. It should have taken about an hour and a half, but I wanted to see a little bit of Kentucky. I saw many farms, and some raceways. I even made some friends with a couple of horses that wanted to ham it up for the camera (those pics to come later) It was quite beautiful. Here is picture I took that does not justice to what I actually saw.

Kentucky

I finally arrived in Louisville, to find a very cute little town. I would love to come back to Kentucky; between the bourbon, Louisville, the train museum, and the caves, I could find some time to kill here.

I was impressed that the ghost bike for Jennifer Futrell near 1034 Bardstown Rd was still standing. I think it has been there since 2008. It is weathered, but still beautiful.

ghost bike for Jennifer Futrell, Louisville, KY

Today I head to Nashville!

Keep on movin'

From Philadelphia, I stayed in Newcastle, Delaware. I had a great night sleep an woke up to take a run. I found some train tracks that were in the process of being built, I decided to follow them. Good idea right? Well, yes and no. Beautiful fun run, but I got lost and ended up running for about an hour instead of the intended half hour. I found my way back to the hotel an got moving....ONWARD!!!

Next stop Baltimore. I had a lead on 2 ghost bikes. I found the first one. I spent some time shooting it, and as I was leaving, with my Polaroid camera in hand a man stopped me to ask about my camera. He was a photographer. I told him about my project and he told me that he had known the boy that was killed. He had come around the corner right as they were carting the body off. It was an old woman with failing eyesight that had hit the boy after she failed to check her
mirror before turning.

Ghost Bike for Nathan Krasnopoler, W. University at W. 39th, Baltimore

I then, typed in directions to the next ghost bike, and it lead me to a neighborhood called Harlem Park, where I found a beautiful destructed church and blocks and blocks of boarded up buildings. I have been very interested in shooting things that are falling apart and "destruction," so I stopped to shoot some pictures. It turns out that my phone directed me to the wrong spot, and even had there been a ghost bike in that neighborhood, I knew it would have been stolen before I ever got a chance to take its photograph.

Next I headed to where the ghost bike was really supposed to be, and it was not there. I remember reading an article about how the bike had been hit and mangled by a car, and it was taken to the Velocipede Bike Project, who said they would reinstall the ghost bike in a couple of weeks. That article was written months ago. I suppose they hadn't gotten around to it.

Velocipede Bike Project, Baltimore, MD

Next I was headed to Ellicott City, MD, and again I punched in the address to my phone. It gave me another wrong set of directions, but I chose to follow it because of how lucky I felt to have discovered what I had in Harlem Park. It brought me to this bike rack donated by a senator in support of the Gwynn Falls Trail, which is a hiking and biking trail.

Baltimore Visitor Center, bike rack donated by senator Ben Carden

Next I headed off to Hell House in Ellicott City, MD, which is the supposedly haunted, abandon and falling apart St. Mary's College. I spent about 3 hours there shooting. I don't have any pictures to post just yet, except for this one I took with my phone to send to my cousin Austin, of some of the graffiti in the place.

Hell House, Ellicott City, MD

When done at Hell House, I headed to Washington DC to look for the ghost bikes that live in DuPont Circle. They were no longer there, so I continued to my cousin and his wife's house for a visit, some dinner and some rest. Let me tell you how great it was to have a home cooked meal!!! I have been living on the tiniest food budget, so real food, and hot food was such a blessing! I don't think they have any idea how much I appreciated their hospitality.

They told me about a weird ghost bike installation near where they lived. I planned on checking that out, a few cemeteries, and a ghost bike in Fairfax, VA. 

I arrived early morning, just passed dawn to shoot the "ghost bike" installation done by Tom Noll. When I was done, I decided to treat myself to a cup of real coffee (instead of the teabag instant kind I had been drinking). I got to the car and noticed a bunch of sculptures on the yards of the houses in front of which I parked. They also had a plaque (like the bike installation) saying they were done by Tom Noll with a telephone number. I was just about to write the number down, when I noticed a man getting into a truck that had "Tom Noll, landscaping and design" on the side of it. I stopped him and asked if he was Tom Noll and what the story about his "ghost bikes" were. 

It turns out they are not ghost bikes at all!! They are a depiction of a children's book that he wrote about recycling. A young boy was jealous that all his neighbors had white picket fences, and he did not, so he decides to recycle bicycles and paint them white, therefore creating his own white picket fence.

Tom Noll art installation (NOT ghost bikes), Rhode Island at NW 1st, Washington DC

Tom Noll art installation (NOT ghost bikes), Rhode Island at NW 1st, Washington DC

Tom Noll sculpture, Washington DC

From here I went to check out a few cemeteries and the ghost bike in Fairfax, VA, which I could not find. Where it was supposed to be was in a very nice neighborhood next to a country club/golf course. I suspect they removed it after some time considering it an "eye sore."

Holmead's Cemetery in Rock Creek Cemetery (section K next to section eye), Washington DC

Freedman's cemetary, Alexandria, VA (they were in the process of re-doing this cemetery, it was all under construction. I do not feel like this was a very "good" thing to do, it made me feel a little "icky")

In the morning I headed to Norfolk, VA, and took the rest of the day to do research on where to go next. I was tired of not finding bikes so I wanted to look up and figure out which bikes were most likely to be there, so I will have better luck in the future.

The next day I did not find any bikes, but did find memorial flowers and a cross at two of the locations.

Donnelle Worsely, 1600 block of Brambleton Ave, Norfolk, VA

Daniel Wayne Hersh, 3001 Shore Drive, Virginia Beach, VA

Just as I was about to be done with the Virginia Beach area, I saw a bike locked up painted all pink, even the tires. I thought maybe, just maybe this might be some sort of ghost bike for someone that loved pink. I went into the cupcake shop it was in front of to ask about it, and it turns out it was just decoration for the shop. 

Pink bike for decoration out front of Just Cupcakes, Virginia Beach, VA

Today I will try to find two bikes in Richmond, VA and two in Buchannon, WV, and hopefully make it to Pittsburgh to spend the night.