Family will not challenge Lakewood request to remove ghost bike
Family members of a bicyclist struck and killed two years ago have been told the City of Lakewood wants a ghost bike at that spot removed.
It is a chilling reminder to drivers and a memorial when they see the white "ghost bike" that has stood along West Alameda Parkway. Gwen Inglis was a cycling champion who lost her life there in May 2021.
Keith Erffmeyer, Inglis' brother, would like to see the bike stay.
"We will never know the lives that it saves, but we will know the lives that it doesn't," he said.
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The bike was dedicated after Gwen was killed by a driver who was under the influence of drugs.
Ryan Montoya was sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $350 million in a civil lawsuit by her family.
Now, after receiving a single complaint, the city has asked the family to take the bike down citing city regulations.
Michael Inglis, Gwen's husband, said he will not fight the move.
"I definitely don't want to challenge the City of Lakewood," Michael said. "They have been great to us. So far, Lakewood has been working with us to come up with a solution that is going to be amicable."
The city has been working on regulations that would allow this bike and other roadside memorials to be replaced with standardized signs.
Ty Countryman with Lakewood Police Department told CBS News Colorado, "A sign, whatever the cause, is a good reminder whether it's an object or not."
Gwen's husband Michael says a sign is not the same.
"Years from now, they're not going to know that Gwen was a state champion, national champion cyclist in the community struck by a guy struck coming down from the casinos at 55 miles an hour," he said.
On this day, cyclists seemed to stick to the sidewalk rather than the bike lane. Like a ghost, the bike placed in her memory will eventually be gone.