Brian Woods was riding his bike on his way to work when he was hit and killed by a driver, early on the morning of July 5, 2022. Today was a ghost bike ride and installation in his memory. Since this was the first one that ARC did in Hamilton, the logistics were a bit different than usual. Here, the van is loaded up and we are ready to hit the road.
Unloading the bikes just around the corner from the start.
The starting point was Southam Park, at the top end of the Keddy Access Trail. Here, Mark Anderson (board member of Cycle Hamilton) is addressing the crowd.
I liked these shirts. Apparently one of these fellows is a mayoral candidate.
I was asked as a cyclist how seeing a ghost bike would make me feel. I said that a ghost bike is not to remind cyclists to be careful, it is to remind drivers to be careful; when you are in a two ton metal box travelling at speed, a moment’s inattention can result in death or serious injury to a pedestrian or cyclist. BTW it has been a bad first half the year for Hamilton, with Brian’s death being the 12th fatality for a vulnerable road user.
Here I am outlining the route for the ride, and letting people know that there will be bike Marshalls at the beginning and the end of the group of cyclists. In addition, Tracy Woods-Wilkinson very kindly offered to drive behind us to block traffic from trying to overtake.
And off we go.
On Inverness, passing Tracy’s truck.
On Upper Wellington, about to turn left onto Limeridge Rd.
On Limeridge
Now approaching the cut de sac just short of Upper Wentworth.
Now crossing Upper Wentworth. There was no marked crosswalk on the on ramp, so much corking had to be done to get the group all the way across. Drivers were generally patient with us when they saw such a large group of cyclists.
Unloading and installing the ghost bike.
A representative of the family thanks the riders for coming.
A moment of silence for Brian.
Decorating the ghost bike and the pole.
In addition to the approximately 60 riders, there were almost an equal number of friends and family present at the installation site.
Now riding back as a group with some of the cyclists.
Here is a video showing a few segments of the ride.
Thanks to everyone who rode with us. Thanks also to Tracy for driving behind us with her truck, both on the way to and from the installation site. Thanks to Mark for representing Hamilton, and to Karl and Daniel for extra marshalling. It was also nice to see several of the usual suspects from Toronto as well. Ironically, this was the most well attended ghost bike ride since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.
Deepest condolences to Brian’s family and friends. I hope that they can take some small degree of comfort from the community support that was shown at the ride today.
A go fund me page has been set up for the family.
The City of Hamilton has been making some noises about making street design changes to improve safety. Council voted to consider a complete streets design manual. In somewhat of a more concrete step, they also recently voted to change Main St from one way to two way traffic. When this actually happens, that will be one down, King St. to go.
Updates:
Spectator story: Memorial ride honours 52-year-old cyclist killed on Upper Wentworth
Biking in a Big City 
Very tragic…another cyclist taken out by a driver.