‘Popping up by the hour’: Bike rides to honor Alex Pretti going global

More than 100 bicycle rides honoring Alex Pretti have been organized nationally and internationally since a local bike shop’s call to action following the killing of the 37-year-old Minneapolis resident.

On Jan. 26, Angry Catfish bike shop, along with several cycling partners, announced a “unity” ride starting at Washburn Fair Oaks Park, 200 E. 24th St. in Minneapolis, at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31. Organizers encouraged others to organize their own rides, as well.

Pretti was a cyclist and a customer at Angry Catfish. He was fatally shot by federal agents Jan. 24 in south Minneapolis, triggering protests and international news coverage, as well as a swell of support from Minneapolis’s tightknit cycling community.

So far there are more than 100 rides planned in the U.S. and several other countries, including Canada, Finland and Australia. Minnesota’s North Shore is participating, too: Continental Ski & Bike in Duluth and Spokengear bike shop and its sister business, Cedar Coffee Co. in Two Harbors, have organized rides.

Members of Continental’s ambassador program encouraged owners Bryan and Carina Peterson to plan a ride in Duluth. They said, yes, with one stipulation: no angry protests or signage.

“We are doing this in memory,” said Bryan Peterson. “I don’t want it to be a political statement. We are supporting [Pretti’s] family. We are all about unity.”

Lucas Winzenburg, managing editor of Bikepacking.com, has been tracking other planned rides as they are announced and updating a map with details using the Ride with GPS app.

A native of North Dakota and current resident of Boulder, Colo., Winzenburg studied at the University of Minnesota and lived in Minneapolis for 12 years. He said he feels a kinship to Pretti, who also studied at the University of Minnesota, over their similar paths — and their affection for bike adventure. Bikepacking, essentially, is backpacking on wheels.

When news broke Saturday of Pretti’s death, Winzenburg checked his database of members. Seeing Pretti’s name “kind of broke me,” he added.

Pretti was a paying member of Bikepacking.com for the last five years, putting him in an “niche collective” that supports the free site, with its abundance of guides and tips. “Alex’s interest was more than a casual bikepacker,” Winzenburg said.

Judging from images, Pretti rode a Surly Ogre, he added. No doubt there will be Surlys rolling in Minneapolis and elsewhere Saturday. The Surly brand is part of Quality Bicycle Products in Bloomington.