Thousands bicyclists ride 1 year after cyclist killed while training for world championship in Colorado
Sunday morning, Colorado Highway 119 in Gunbarrel looked like the Tour de France.
This was a tour de force. The Ride for Magnus started on the University of Colorado's campus and turned around in Gunbarrel where 17-year-old cyclist Magnus White was killed one year ago by a hit-and-run driver while he was training for an upcoming race at the world championships.
"It's a ride in solidarity. It's basically a way of getting a bunch of people together and, and affecting change," said coach Michael Robson. "The hope and the mission is to be able to effect change and make roads safer for all road users."
The ride was organized by Robson, White's family, and Dan Langenkamp, the founder of Ride For Your Life, whose wife was killed by a car while riding her bike.
"We are U.S. diplomats, and we had just been evacuated from Ukraine, for our safety. but she was killed here on our roads just outside our nation's capital," Langenkamp said.
He has been organizing rides like this across the nation in his wife's memory to call for more actions that protect cyclists; things like reducing car size, adding sensors to vehicles that will detect cyclists and stopping distracted driving.
He hopes these rides will bring something positive out of tragedy.
"Hopefully, Magnus won't have died in vain this way," said Langenkamp.
This is the largest ride he's organized so far, with 3,700 riders taking part. Robson says it's just a reflection of how much White meant to this community.
"His effect and influence on people was very, very strong and widespread. So, I think for the family to be able to, to continue that and carry that and, and have, you know, Magnus as reach and influence be, you know, be a force for change over time is very powerful," Robson said.
If you count virtual registrations more than 4,000 people participated Sunday from all 50 states and 20 different nations.
