Around the world on Saturday, people gathered on bikes to ride in solidarity with each other and honor the life of Alex Pretti. Pretti, the ICU nurse who was killed by federal ICE agents on January 24, was a cyclist himself.
The notion of a solidarity ride came from the folks at the Angry Catfish, Pretti’s local bike shop in Minneapolis. On January 26, a post featuring on the shop’s Instagram page both honored Pretti as “one of us” and served as a call for action for other shops and clubs to organize their own rides.
Within days, over 200 rides had been planned around the US, and even in places as far afield as Finland and Australia. There were so many rides that the editors of website bikepacking.com created a live map, where blue pins representing rides across the nation cropped up by the hour. The map showed over 15 rides in Colorado alone, including gatherings in Salida, Denver, Gunnison, and even Trinidad near the new Mexico border.
" I saw the poster or the graphic design with Alex Prey's smiling face in a bike helmet on bikepacking.com, and I saw that they were organizing and encouraging unity rides and community rides and memorial rides."
Carbondale resident Trina Ortega saw a pin placed on Basalt on the bikepacking.com map and was one of 25 riders who gathered in front of Mountain Heart Brewing on Saturday.
"Because Alex was a cyclist. He was based out of Minneapolis, obviously, and I've been there, and I've been there for cycling trips and I've been to the Angry Catfish bike shop that is behind a lot of the organization of this ride, and I wanted to show up for the ride for one. And then also make sure that folks saw what the ride was, that this group of people aren't just riding in Colorado winter, but that it is a purposeful ride in memoriam and also in respect to what's occurring in our nation right now."
Rides were held in Pretti's honor in places as far afield as Finland and Australia. The map showed over 15 rides in Colorado alone, including gatherings in Salida, Denver, Gunnison, and even Trinidad near the New Mexico border. The Basalt Ride was organized by Resident Vega Brhely, the president and founder of Inspire Cycling, a community cycling group for women. Brhely got the ball rolling when she realized there weren't any memorial rides scheduled in the valley.
"Well, Alex Pretti was a cyclist and I guess this is my personal, like why I wanted to do this ride is there's one degree of separation between me and Alex. I had a couple friends that went to high school with him. He lived in Milwaukee for a while and did the River West 24 with some other friends of mine.
He was a, you know, dedicated cyclist, and I think as a cycling community we all like realize that that could be us, you know? So. That's why I rallied, like I really think he stood up for his beliefs, which are also my beliefs. And he's a hero."
Riders from across the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond came to Mountain Heart on a mild winter day.
"And so this ride is just like a short, it's short, it's seven miles. Just giving you a little heads up. We're going to have about 150 feet of hard-packed snow to walk through to get to Emma Road. Just so that you're aware, I want everybody to be safe. It's a super casual ride. Let's chat, let's get to know each other. I mean, maybe we can introduce each. Ourselves right now.
I'm Hunter. I'm from Up in Eagle. Um, and I found this through bikepacking.com.
Aaron, the other side of Basalt, and I don't know, I heard about it six different ways. It was well done and short notice; here to support positive movements.
On Colorado's front range last weekend, an estimated 3000 people rode in Fort Collins, Boulder, Golden, and Denver, while smaller groups gathered in Western Colorado towns like Durango, Leadville, and Basalt.
For Ortega, joining other cyclists felt like a small but meaningful way to respond to what's happening on a national level.
"Perhaps, at least for me, sometimes I don't know what to do, right? I vote, I contribute, I try to discuss openly with people of different backgrounds and viewpoints.
But in a case like this, I feel a little bit removed from everything that truly is occurring in Minnesota, and this is a way I felt to connect with like-minded folks, both in cycling and the outdoors. And then also just to, again, remember someone who I, I feel was standing up for other people, and I think that cyclists often feel like, I don't know what to do, but let's go ride bikes and do it together."
