A Calgary motorcycle group gathered Sunday for a somber ride.
have been riding their motorcycles together for roughly four years, but they were riding for a different reason on Sunday.
The @Riders_YYC group gathered to commemorate a member who was killed in a motorcycle collision on Thursday. Police said “David” — as he was known to fellow members — crashed into the side of a Dodge Caravan in the intersection of Midlake Boulevard and Midridge Drive SE. Police said he suffered significant injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The group is feeling the void of their members presence.
“He always had a big smile on his face,” @Riders_YYC founder Ali Chehade said. “Always laughing and making jokes with us, always just outgoing and always jolly.”
Members of the group gathered in the parking lot of Peter’s Drive-In on Sunday to unveil a stripped-down motorbike that had been spray-painted white in honour of their late friend.
They then went to the crash site where they locked up the bike and held a moment of silence to remember David.
Members of the group said they felt it was their duty to hold the memorial for their friend because they had yet to hear from an immediate family member and felt as though David was a lone wolf.
On their journey to the crash site to leave the ghost bike, all riders were told to go at least 5km/h under the speed limit to honour a man who always rode safely.
“Out of all the riders I know, every time David got off his bike and went to get back on his bike, he would get down on one knee and pray before he turned the ignition on,” Chehade said. “We would always have to wait on him to pray before he’d get on his bike.”
The group hopes to track down someone from David’s family to talk to them about what happened and express how much he meant to the group and how much he’ll be missed.