Cyclist Memorials

[powinc]

I was driving through the Hunter Region recently and quickly saw a bike frame with (I think) two crosses displayed above it.

This is obviously a memorial to one (or two) cycles that died on that part of the road. It was erected just before a bridge, where the emergency lane/bike lane narrows to cross the bridge.

I believe as a group we make a effort to memorialize, or pay tribute to all cyclists that have died on our roads. Either by erecting a memorial where they have been killed or in a memorial park in each capital city or both.

powinc

 

[Marty Wallace]

"powinc" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was driving through the Hunter Region recently and
> quickly saw a bike frame with (I think) two crosses
> displayed above it.
>
> This is obviously a memorial to one (or two) cycles that
> died on that part of the road. It was erected just before
> a bridge, where the emergency lane/bike lane narrows to
> cross the bridge.
>
> I believe as a group we make a effort to memorialize, or
> pay tribute to all cyclists that have died on our roads.
> Either by erecting a memorial where they have been killed
> or in a memorial park in each capital city or both.
>
> powinc

About 10 km south of where I live (Smiths Hill near Collie,
Western Australia) there is a small memorial dedicated to
two cyclists who's ashes were scattered at the hill. They
died of natural causes but the memorial is dedicated to them
for their cycling feats. We also have a long tiled snake
that represents the Wagyl set into the footpath of the main
street. Tiles set into the snakes form have the names of the
winners of the Collie -Donnybrook cycle race which extends
back about 77 years. At the end is a large tiled apple which
represents Donnybrook, the home of the Granny Smith and Pink
Lady apples. The snake is about 100 metres long.

Marty

 

[L'Acrobat]

"powinc" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was driving through the Hunter Region recently and
> quickly saw a bike frame with (I think) two crosses
> displayed above it.
>
> This is obviously a memorial to one (or two) cycles that
> died on that part of the road. It was erected just before
> a bridge, where the emergency lane/bike lane narrows to
> cross the bridge.
>
> I believe as a group we make a effort to memorialize, or
> pay tribute to all cyclists that have died on our roads.
> Either by erecting a memorial where they have been killed
> or in a memorial park in each capital city or both.

I can see the point to a roadside memorial as, if done
right, may make drivers more aware of cyclists (if only in
the general area of the memorial).

But a memorial park in each capital city is absurd, do we
need a memorial park in each capital for those killed in
toaster accidents? drowned in the bath park? died of bee
stings? snakebite? medical negligence? abseiling accidents?
rock fishing accidents?

We don't need a park for every trivial (percentage of deaths
wise) case - who would be expected to pay for this country
wide network of 'dead cyclist' parks? the local rate payer?,
state govt? or would it be a federal responsibility? in
every single case the one who actually pays is the taxpayer,
and I for one would be bloody angry if my tax money was
diverted to such a cause (yes I know it already goes to
equally stupid ideas, but why come up with more?).

 

[wassupdawg]

Originally posted by L'Acrobat
I can see the point to a roadside memorial as, if done
right, may make drivers more aware of cyclists (if only in
the general area of the memorial).

But a memorial park in each capital city is absurd, do we
need a memorial park in each capital for those killed in
toaster accidents? drowned in the bath park? died of bee
stings? snakebite? medical negligence? abseiling accidents?
rock fishing accidents?

We don't need a park for every trivial (percentage of deaths
wise) case - who would be expected to pay for this country
wide network of 'dead cyclist' parks? the local rate payer?,
state govt? or would it be a federal responsibility? in
every single case the one who actually pays is the taxpayer,
and I for one would be bloody angry if my tax money was
diverted to such a cause (yes I know it already goes to
equally stupid ideas, but why come up with more?).

If, as pointed out by cfsmtb (quoting Phil Crohn) that more people have died on our roads last century than in all wars combined, then perhaps the park/memorial idea has legs. After all, how many shrines, memorial plaques etc does every town, city, location have?
could incoroporate them into those naff Lion's club parks in every town

 

[L'Acrobat]

"wassupdawg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> L'Acrobat wrote:
> > I can see the point to a roadside memorial as, if done
> > right, may make drivers more aware of cyclists (if
> > only in the general area of the memorial). But a
> > memorial park in each capital city is absurd, do we
> > need a memorial park in each capital for those killed
> > in toaster accidents? drowned in the bath park? died
> > of bee stings? snakebite? medical negligence?
> > abseiling accidents? rock fishing accidents? We don't
> > need a park for every trivial (percentage of deaths
> > wise)
case
> > - who would be expected to pay for this country wide
> > network of 'dead cyclist' parks? the local rate
> > payer?, state govt? or would it be a federal
> > responsibility? in every single case the one who
> > actually pays is the taxpayer, and I for one would
> > be bloody angry if my tax money
was
> > diverted to such a cause (yes I know it already goes
> > to equally stupid ideas, but why come up with more?).
>
>
>
> If, as pointed out by cfsmtb (quoting Phil Crohn) that
> more people have died on our roads last century than in
> all wars combined, then perhaps the park/memorial idea has
> legs. After all, how many shrines, memorial plaques etc
> does every town, city, location have? could incoroporate
> them into those naff Lion's club parks in every town

A few problems with that justification.

1. That road toll figure is frankly an abuse of statistics,
look at the amount of troops we've sent to war and the
amount of time they were in a war zone, then compare it
to the fact that all of us are road users and we use the
roads to one extent or another virtually every day and
suddenly that 'shocking road statistic' is pretty
inconsequential.

2. Those road users didn't choose to put their lives at
additional risk to protect the rest of us, so a
specific memorial seems no more needed than any other
cause of death.

3. I have no problem with people choosing to put up a
memorial to almost anything, just don't ask me to
pay for it.

 

[Baka Dasai]

On Mon, 3 May 2004 00:22:38 +1000, L'acrobat said (and I quote):
> I can see the point to a roadside memorial as, if done
> right, may make drivers more aware of cyclists (if only in
> the general area of the memorial).

I think the main message these memorials would send is that
cycling is a terribly dangerous thing to do, and that if you
are stupid enough to get on a bike, there's a good chance
you'll get run over.

Seeing as a greater number of cyclists leads to better
driving behaviour and therefore increased cyclist safety,
anything that tends to discourage cycling serves to reduce
the safety of those remaining cyclists.

So I think these memorials are a bad idea. It's better to
promote cycling as a safe thing to do rather than a
dangerous thing to do.
--
What was I thinking?

 

[powinc]

Seeing as a greater number of cyclists leads to better
driving behaviour and therefore increased cyclist safety,
anything that tends to discourage cycling serves to reduce
the safety of those remaining cyclists.

I disagree with the above point, with my reference being that on occasions where a mass of cyclists interfere the car driver's 'god given right' to the open road, there is negative feedback, mostly though the tabloid press. Critical Mass for example gets over 95% of car drivers irate.

powinc

 

[Baka Dasai]

On Tue, 04 May 2004 11:42:12 GMT, powinc said (and I quote):
> I disagree with the above point, with my reference
> being that on occasions where a mass of cyclists
> interfere the car driver's 'god given right' to the
> open road, there is negative feedback, mostly though
> the tabloid press. Critical Mass for example gets over
> 95% of car drivers irate.

I wasn't referring to group rides or Critical Mass (not that
I have anything against them), but simply to overall numbers
of individual cyclists. If encountering a cyclist on the
road is a frequent occurrence for drivers, they naturally
get better at dealing with it. If they only encounter
cyclists rarely, they stop looking out for you.

This leads to some perverse results, for example, mandatory
helmet laws making cycling less safe by causing a large
reduction in cycling numbers.

The widely-held view that cycling on the road is very
dangerous is self-fulfilling. If you can get people to
believe that cycling on the road is safe, it will become so.
--
What was I thinking?

 

[Ken Oaf]

On Sun, 2 May 2004 18:10:28 +0800, "Marty Wallace" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> We also have a long tiled snake that represents the Wagyl
> set into the footpath of the main street. Tiles set into
> the snakes form have the names of the winners of the
> Collie -Donnybrook cycle race which extends back about 77
> years. At the end is a large tiled apple which represents
> Donnybrook, the home of the Granny Smith and Pink Lady
> apples. The snake is about 100 metres long.

The home of the Granny Smith apple is Eastwood in Sydney.

 

[Marty Wallace]

"Ken Oaf" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sun, 2 May 2004 18:10:28 +0800, "Marty Wallace"
> <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
> >
> > We also have a long tiled snake that represents the
> > Wagyl set into the footpath of the main street. Tiles
> > set into the snakes form have the
names
> > of the winners of the Collie -Donnybrook cycle race
> > which extends back
about
> > 77 years. At the end is a large tiled apple which
> > represents Donnybrook,
the
> > home of the Granny Smith and Pink Lady apples. The snake
> > is about 100
metres
> > long.
>
> The home of the Granny Smith apple is Eastwood in Sydney.
>
>

Hmmm You're right! Even though Donnybrook calls itself the
Home of the Granny Smith apple it seems it WAS discovered in
Sydney. Donnybrook developed the Lady Williams and Pink Lady
varieties.

 

[mikeg]

Originally posted by Marty Wallace
"Ken Oaf" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sun, 2 May 2004 18:10:28 +0800, "Marty Wallace"
> <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
> >
> > We also have a long tiled snake that represents the
> > Wagyl set into the footpath of the main street. Tiles
> > set into the snakes form have the
names
> > of the winners of the Collie -Donnybrook cycle race
> > which extends back
about
> > 77 years. At the end is a large tiled apple which
> > represents Donnybrook,
the
> > home of the Granny Smith and Pink Lady apples. The snake
> > is about 100
metres
> > long.
>
> The home of the Granny Smith apple is Eastwood in Sydney.
>
>

Hmmm You're right! Even though Donnybrook calls itself the
Home of the Granny Smith apple it seems it WAS discovered in
Sydney. Donnybrook developed the Lady Williams and Pink Lady
varieties.

Most definitely the home of the "Granny Smith Apple" is Eastwood Sydney, I am a 7th generation descendant of "Granny Smith"

The variety grew from seeds which grew near Threlfall Street Eastwood

Mike

 

[? The Platypus]

powinc <[email protected]> writes:

> or in a memorial park in each capital city or both.

Rather then a memorial park, why not a memorial bike path.

--
Please excuse my spelling as I suffer from agraphia. See
http://dformosa.zeta.org.au/~dformosa/Spelling.html to find
out more. Free the Memes.