TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A day after some of the largest protests in Tucson against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Trump administration to date, cyclists gathered for a quieter, moving demonstration Saturday afternoon — a memorial ride honoring Alex Pretti and others.
Dozens of cyclists from across Tucson and southern Arizona met at Himmel Park before riding downtown as part of a nationwide memorial movement. The effort began at a Minneapolis bike shop frequented by Pretti and has since spread to cities across the country as cyclists seek ways to grieve, remember and build community.
Tucson organizer Parker Roenfanz said the connection to Minneapolis was personal.
“I worked at Angry Catfish for a good number of years so I’m very connected to that cycling community in Minneapolis…” Roenfanz said.
He added that Tucson and Minneapolis share more in common than many might expect.
“This feels like Minneapolis in the desert," he said. "It is heavy on good community, and good culture, and good food and weird people.”
Roenfanz said those similarities helped inspire him to organize the Tucson ride.
“I thought, this seems like an easy thing for Tucson to get behind. There’s a lot of snowbirds here,” Roenfanz said.
One of those winter visitors was Pam Hile, a Minneapolis resident, who joined the Tucson ride while spending time in southern Arizona. She said recent events in her hometown have been difficult to process from afar.
“It’s felt really surreal to watch the horrific happenings in our home city. And we’re really torn because we’re here and not there,” Hile said.
She said participating in the ride offered a way to stay connected to community, even hundreds of miles from home.
“I’ll just be trying to send out into the world just all the love that we start with ourselves
And can then try to give to others.”
After gathering at the park, riders pedaled downtown, where they paused for a brief remembrance for Alex Pretti, Renee Good and others. The ride came amid a moment of heightened civic engagement nationwide, as protests, memorials and demonstrations have taken different forms across communities.
Roenfanz said the timing of the ride felt significant.
“There’s a lot of people paying attention right now," he said. "I know our attention gets pulled in so many different directions, and right now I think there’s a collective feeling. That everybody’s focused on a very similar thing.”
Organizers said the memorial ride was not only about honoring lives lost, but also about reminding people of the power of shared space, shared movement and collective care — even in moments when protests grow quieter and take new shapes.
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Eddie Celaya is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born in Tucson and raised in the Phoenix area, Eddie is a life-long Arizonan and graduate of the University of Arizona who loves the desert and mountains and hates the cold. Previously, Eddie worked in print media at the Arizona Daily Star. Share your story ideas with Eddie at edward.celaya@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook or Instagram.
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