Alex Pretti Memorial Ride

By Mingwei

Two fliers, each featuring a black-and-white graphic of Alex Pretti's smiling helmeted face. The left is overlaid yellow and green Oakland colors, with the Oakland tree, and the right is overlaid the SF fog and gold phoenix flag. The left, East Bay: "SAT 1/31 2026; 10:00 MEET; 10:30 ROLL". The right, SF: "SAT 1/31 2026; 1:00 meet; 1:30 ROLL". Both say "WE RIDE IN UNITY", "RIDE TOGETHER", "STAND TOGETHER".
Fliers for the East Bay and SF, featuring art by Casey Robertson.

Masked Border Patrol agents gunned down Alex Pretti on Saturday, January 24th, after he tried to assist a woman who’d just been pepper-sprayed. Alex was a bikepacker and cyclist, as well as a ICU nurse serving veterans at the VA hospital. In a movement spearheaded by the Angry Catfish bike shop in Minneapolis, groups across the United States and world are hosting memorial rides this weekend in honor of Alex and to protest the violence inflicted by ICE and Border Patrol.

Following the lead, in addition to our usual final Friday ride at 6pm, we are supporting a memorial ride for Alex Pretti this Saturday afternoon: January 31st meeting at 1pm and rolling at 1:30, from the Ferry Building (across the Embarcadero from our usual start). Unlike usual Critical Mass, this ride has a planned route:

A map of SF showing a route starting at the Ferry building, heading southwest up Market St, through Civic Center, up and down Valencia, continuing up the Wiggle, down Golden Gate Park, and continuing back around to the start along the north edge of the city.
Map of the planned route for the Alex Pretti Memorial Ride in San Francisco (RwGPS)

People are leading several other memorial rides in the Bay Area:

Two photos of Alex Pretti smiling, out in the woods. The left in bike gear behind a montain bike; the right kneeling in hiking gear and glasses.
Alex Pretti, biking and hiking.

From Angry Catfish: “Alex was one of us, could’ve been any of us, so as we mourn, all of us can come together in unity to remember Alex for what he was. A kind and caring soul put on this earth to be the light for others. Although his light has been extinguished by this fascist regime, it hasn’t been lost. If anything, those sparks fell and ignited something in us that’s been hiding all along. We are stronger together, and they can’t take us all. We’ve gathered together a community of cyclists to remember Alex Pretti.”

Beyond joining the ride, we encourage you to take action by sending a note to your local representatives demanding a stop to ICE’s violence using this pre-filled form from the ACLU. You can also find vetted organizations to donate to via Stand With Minnesota.