Ghost bike (Bois de Boulogne)

Today's photo and text are by J: "In the Bois de Boulogne in the west end of Paris there is a dedicated piste de cyclisme sportif.  It circles the Longchamps horse race track and is a car-free loop of pristine pavement that attracts hundreds of cyclists every day of the year.  Today I was one of those cyclists.  I have been riding this track for 20 years and have never heard of any serious accidents.
 
Today, however, I came across this white bicycle at the side of the track.  There are white bikes (also called ghost bikes) as silent memorials to cyclists who have been killed  - usually by collisions with cars - when riding.  When you see a bike painted completely white at the side of a road, that is what it means.  
 
Not every cyclist killed by a motorist is memorialized this way.  When someone is, the memorial is intended to remind motorists that cyclists use the roads with them and are particularly vulnerable when a driver is not paying attention or is distracted by their phone.  
 
Not all cyclists, though, believe this is a positive way to encourage sharing the road.  Scaring cyclists into thinking that they risk their lives whenever they get on a bike distorts the real risks.  You are more likely to die from slipping in the bathroom than riding a bike.  Pedestrians are killed by cars more often than cyclists.  Nevertheless, I cannot fault people who express their grief over the death of a friend by creating a memorial."