'Ghost bike' becomes memorial for avid Winnipeg cyclist killed in hit-and-run on way to work

A chorus of bike bells rang along a Winnipeg street as a community watched a grieving wife place flowers onto a bicycle commemorating her husband's life.

Family, friends and members of the city's cycling community gathered Thursday night to honour Rob Jenner at the site where the 61-year-old cyclist was struck and killed in a hit-and-run.

Some of the mourners came bearing flowers and in an impromptu moment rang their bike bells as Jenner's wife, Wendy Van Loon, rested flowers above the tire of a bicycle that's become a roadside memorial for him.

Earlier in the evening, Van Loon told the crowd of upwards of 200 people her husband loved biking to work because it made him feel like a kid again. Many people were wearing red, Jenner's favourite colour.

"He always arrived home at 4:20 p.m., riding in the back lane like he was Lance Armstrong finishing a race," she remembered at a gathering outside the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. 

"Since my retirement, I waited for him with the garage door open, knowing I'd see that big smile rolling toward me, full of pride, and feeling on top of the world."

On June 6, he never made it home, nor to the human rights museum, where he worked as a shipper and receiver for a decade.

That morning, Jenner was rushed to hospital in critical condition after he was hit by a vehicle at Wellington Crescent and Cockburn Street. He later died from his injuries.

Beckham Keneth Severight, 19, was charged with dangerous driving causing death and failing to stop at the scene.

Van Loon said her husband was always cautious while cycling. He wore bright yellow safety gear, a helmet with flashing lights and left early to avoid rush-hour traffic "because he knew that parts of his commute weren't the safest," she said.

There's no protected bike lane along the section of Wellington Crescent where Jenner was struck.

"One gap, one second is all it took to change my world forever," Van Loon said.

"The back lane is quiet at 4:20 p.m. without my Lance." 

Melissa Moiny raised her hand when a speaker at the memorial asked if any other cyclist had a close call at that intersection.