“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”} }”>
Get a free Giordana cycling jersey when you subscribe to Velo with Outside+! It’s our way of celebrating the 2024 Road World Championships in Zurich. Includes free shipping. Hurry, ends Sept. 29.
>”,”name”:”in-content-cta”,”type”:”link”}}”>Join now.
Talented young American Magnus White and over eight thousand others killed by drivers will be remembered with a symbolic fundraising ride in Colorado early next month.
The brothers of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity have announced a mission to ride a stationary bike for 8,423 minutes straight between 5.50PM Saturday November 2 and 12.28 Friday November 8.
The latter time coincides with the exact moment on July 29 last year when White, a gifted 17 year old multidisciplinary rider, was struck and killed by a driver while riding in USA Cycling Team kit.
The ride duration relates to the 8,423 cyclists and pedestrians killed by drivers in 2023.
White was just 15 minutes from home on the day he was struck. It was one of his last training outings prior to competing for Team USA at the MTB world championships in Glasgow.
According to officials, he was riding on the side of Highway 119 near Gunbarrel when the 23 year old female driver drifted into the right shoulder and hit him. Investigators assert she fell asleep at the wheel; she has claimed a steering malfunction was the cause.
She was arrested last December, pled not guilty in May, and is due to go on trial in December.
‘We couldn’t be prouder of their initiative’
The Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity was founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. It has over 225 chapters and provisional chapters across the US and abroad. This number includes a chapter at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
The stationary bike ride will take place on campus grounds at the University Memorial Center Fountain.
It is aiming to raise $100,000 to support The White Line Foundation. This is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving road safety through behavior change.
White’s parents Michael and Jill said in a media release that they were fully behind the fundraiser.
“These young men came to us with this idea, and we couldn’t be prouder of their initiative,” they stated.
“They’re in charge of putting on the event; from the event logo, securing the location, to the website and pledging platform. It’s impressive to see the drive these young men have in honor of victims of traffic violence.”
In a media release, the White Line Foundation described itself as “the new voice for change, born from tragedy and fueled by urgency.”
It said that it had a clear mission, namely to honor White’s legacy by “transforming how drivers behave around cyclists and pedestrians.
“We cannot afford to sit back and hope for slow policy changes or long-term infrastructure improvements. People are dying now, and we need to act now. No apologies. No more stolen lives. No more shattered families. We’re committed to making the roads safer today.”
Sebastian Edwards, a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, described White as “our dear friend.” He said that his story and legacy “act as an emissary around the world fighting for safer roads.
“Our goal is to raise $100,000 and inspire immediate change in how drivers interact with cyclists and pedestrians, supporting The White Line’s mission to make roads safer for everyone—right now.”
More information is available at pikeonabike.com, where pledges to can also be made. For details about The White Line, visit that website here.
The event will be livestreamed here.
