Perilous Biking

I've recently been considering getting a bike. My new neighborhood is going to be a lot more biker friendly, it's a great way to exercise, and I no longer fear the opinions of militant and mean hipster bikers. However, there has been an increase in cyclist deaths in Chicago as the weather warms up. Two have occurred within this past month and who knows how many others before them; the cover of one of Chicago's newsprint tabloids focused on the rise in biker deaths.

While driving to work this morning and listening to NPR, there was mention of the recent spate of cyclists deaths. Last night, Chicago bikers held their own "Ride of Silence," a nationwide event where bicyclists visit the sites of bicycle-related deaths throughout their cities. Eight Forty-Eight did a segment focusing on friends of fallen bicyclists and biking activists creating monuments in the form of "ghost bikes."

Ghost bikes are stripped bikes (so people won't deface them for their parts) painted white and locked up at the site of a biker's death. To listen to Eight Forty-Eight's story and learn more about ghost bikes, click here.



(A Ghost Bike for Tyler James Fabeck, killed two days ago. Photo credit: Howard Kaplan.)

Chris Ware and This American Life

This American Life, a radio show on NPR that was originally based in Chicago, is in its second season as a television show on Showtime. I haven't seen it as a show but love listening to the podcasts at work or on the radio as I drive around on the weekends. Here is a clip of a segment, animated by Chris Ware and featuring the amazing voice of host, Ira Glass.