Dia de los Muertos altars, or ofrendas, are created in memory of those who have died, and invite the spirit of the deceased to visit, with bright decorations, flowers, food and drink. Rios-Sierra said she was inspired to create a community altar to cyclists because of the surge in people on foot or bicycle killed by drivers since the pandemic. “This year I was inspired by the work Palenque did with [the equitable transit-oriented development think tank] Elevate Chicago that had a lot to do with equitable development and walkability of our neighborhoods,” she said. “I did a little research and realized there’s a whole database on bicyclist and pedestrian deaths. I thought that was so sad. There were a lot more deaths during the pandemic. The number of people killed on the streets was higher. I thought it was time to create a space to honor those people who had been lost.”
