damaged steed
Globe Correspondent
The bike -- chained most days outside 28 Inman St., right by the ''If you can read this, you're biking the wrong way" sign -- remained unscathed from last October through March.
No pedestrian specimen, it was a horse bike. A horse skeleton, to be exact. Wrapped in white plastic ''ribs" and boasting a long neck and proud plastic skull, the customized bike was part alternative transportation, part public art. It survived the winter's record snowfalls. Then ''Vertigo's" luck ran out.
One Monday morning, Inman Street pedestrians encountered a beheaded horse. Its denuded neck bore a simple note:
''Someone took the head from this horse-bike on Saturday night. I'm not sure what happened to it. I hope those of you who walk by regularly have enjoyed it."
Sculptor Gideon Weisz, a member of the Subversive Choppers Urban Legion, had built Vertigo, named for its 5-foot 7-inch height, with a friend in 2001. The group's season-ending Halloween ride requires that either the cyclist or the chopper wear a costume, said Weisz's roommate Mark Torrey.
And so the horse was born.
In 2004, after moving to Central Square, Weisz remade the get-up with sturdier materials: polystyrene, vinyl blinds, and masking tape. ''I thought I'd leave it out," Weisz said, ''and just kind of see how long things lasted."
A thank you note to neighbors from sculptor Gideon Weisz was affixed last week to his damaged bike.
Vertigo had personality. It towered over SUVs. People soon took notice, perhaps envying the fleet steed that promised a faster way to work, Ichabod Crane with a travel mug.
When people found out he lived on Inman Street, Weisz reported, ''They'd comment on the horse."
Through his window, he watched people take pictures.
''I thought it was neat," said passerby Elissa Wilker.
Ross Farley agreed: ''I walk this street every day, and I love it. It was a mini landmark to me."
Six days later, the skull disappeared.
Veteran alternative cyclists, Weisz and Torrey accepted the vandalism with equanimity, pleasantly surprised the costume lasted as long as it did. Weisz posted the note to inform people, not from anger. ''As far as we're concerned, Vertigo is one of many," said Torrey. ''It's not that big a deal."
But neighbors had a different reaction. They rallied in anonymous community. After a week, Weisz's note had garnered $2 toward replacement costs and a number of comments.
''I'm sorry. What a creative thing wasted!"
''Will you replace it?" (Answer: ''I might.")
And, simply, ''How sad!" accompanied by a frown.
Fortunately for fans, the sculptor had made a template for the skull. ''It'd be pretty relatively easy for me to make another," said Weisz. Replacement materials would probably cost less than $10.
''The notes that people have written have just been so nice," Weisz explained, ''I figure as soon as I have time, I'll make a new head and I'll put it out there. I feel like it's worth it for me to do. Hopefully this one will also last for another six months, and people will enjoy it."
Don't close the stables, Ichabod. The horse is coming back.