Alex Pretti Memorial Bike Ride

I had been saying that I was going to get out for a bike ride on January 31st so I could keep my streak of having outdoor bike miles logged every month since March 2023 (when I started commuting more by bike). It turns out that a memorial ride for Alex Pretti was scheduled that day, so I biked out to find it. Here's what I posted later that day on social media:

I had to taxi my boys around midday, so I couldn’t start the Alex Pretti memorial ride with everyone else. I took off about 40 minutes late down the Greenway Trail as fast as I could go on my old mountain bike. I was hoping to find the group ride, but they didn’t share their route ahead of time for safety reasons.
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Right as I was giving up hope, I saw a bridge in front of me full of cyclists. I found them just before I-35W. I worked my way up on top of the bridge and joined the ride.
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It started and ended with tears in my eyes.
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As I joined the ride (maybe one block in), there were four kids holding a Guatemalan flag while waving at all of us going by (2nd pic). A cyclist just in front of me shouted “WE LOVE YOU, NEIGHBORS!” Tears.
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We rolled past where Renee Good was shot in the head (3rd pic).
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After going down Minnehaha and Nokomis Parkway for a few miles, I peeled off to head for home as the ride turned toward the VA where Alex worked. As I finished taking the last video of this post, I heard a tiny voice behind me. It was an old woman wearing a long old winter jacket with a small “old lady” dog on a leash standing next to her. She quietly said “all of this moves me... it makes me want to cry...” Her words made me tear up again. We chatted for a moment, and I wished her well and headed for home.
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There were thousands of people out there. No idea how many, as it was impossible to see them all at the same time. Very moving. I would like to go make “art” of these issues, but these are just snapshots of the day - too heavy for me to make art right now.

And here were the pics and video:

Shortly after meeting up with the ride.


Four kids holding the Guatemalan flag.


People stopping around Renee Good's memorial.


Just a sea of riders.




Carrie and Charlie. Charlie and I chatted for a while.


On Minnehaha near Cedar. The organizer made 1000 of
those vests, and suspects 5000+ people were there.


Riding on Minnehaha.


Headed over Hiawatha near Minnehaha Falls.


Direct link: youtu.be/lcg6wGuvTpk?si=Dy-N27ua9DhxEl4K

It's still not good here in the metro. One of my oldest son's classmates (and soccer teammates) had their Dad and older brother taken from work - I don't know his immigration details (I guess I've never thought to think "Oh, they're latino... I wonder if they're legal?"), but he's been here for at least 9 years as a member of our parish earning money to send his kids to private school. Our class instantly raised $1,100 for the family for at least immediate bills, food, etc. A friend's Spanish tutor was taken, hauled to Texas, and then released IN TEXAS because they are a US citizen. They have to find their way the 1,000 miles back (luckily, they have a good church where people are pooling together). A former directly-next-door neighbor had her nanny taken and hauled away for days. Another professor friend is helping to raise money for a family friend of 25+ years who's employer was taken in December who hasn't been paid since October.

We went out to eat last weekend down Lake Street in a very Hispanic neighborhood, and 2 of the 3 places we tried to stop weren't open. People are scared. US CITIZENS are scared. We ended up eating at a taco place where someone was manning the door to only unlock the door to let families in to eat - not ICE. My wife has multiple co-workers who have been stopped and told that their IDs weren't enough but would be let off "this time, but not next time." What paperwork are they supposed to carry? (They've asked, and never gotten an answer.) A family on my boys' fencing team makes sure to carry their passports on them at all times. (Oh, and their fencing gym is now locked 24/7 and you need to be let in by someone who knows you.) Sacred Heart Church in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood here in St. Paul has had ICE agents sitting in the parking lot ready to grab parishioners after a number of their Spanish-speaking masses. Sure, come after the criminals, whether they are immigrants or not. But this "we're coming for the worst of the worst" is a line of crap. We are being terrorized, and if you're living around the area and don't feel that way, then you have a small, privileged, (white) circle. This is not OK.

I wanted to "make art" at the bike ride, but found myself unable to. But I've been out a few times since then to add to my "4 a.m. series," and here are a few fresh images from my Photo Blog.