4,000 cyclists from around the world Ride for Magnus in Boulder

Thousands of cyclists from every state and twenty countries rode through Boulder last Sunday to honor the life of teenager Magnus White, a local cycling star killed last year while training for the Junior Mountain Bike World Championships

2024-ride-for-magnus

White, 17, was struck and killed by a reckless driver in Boulder, Colorado, last July, his parents made the decision to turn their grief into action by creating The White Line Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to advocating for improved cycling infrastructure and laws protecting cyclists.

The organization held its largest event yet: the Ride For Magnus: Ride For Your Life 13.5-mile memorial ride, held on August 11 in Boulder, Colorado.

White was just days away from departing for the 2023 UCI Junior Men’s Mountain Bike Cross-Country World Championships in Scotland., when he died while wearing his Team USA jersey.

“We should be watching Magnus on television or cheering him on at the next Olympics,” said Langenkamp. “Instead we’re begging our leaders to make changes to road safety so people like him don’t have to die.”

Magnus White

The Whites hope to fast-track construction of the North Foothills Bikeway on US-36, which connects Boulder to Lyons and is used by tens of thousands of cyclists annually, according to Michael White.

At the state level, organizers want to increase penalties for careless and reckless driving that results in death and serious injury. Under state law, careless driving resulting in death is a class 1 misdemeanor that can lead to up to one year in county jail. Reckless driving is a class 4 felony that can result in non-mandatory prison time.

“It’s not about putting people in jail, it’s about a deterrent,” Michael White said. “If people know there are severe penalties for taking another life, maybe they’ll drive more responsibly.”

On a federal level, the Whites hope Congress passes a law to require all vehicles to have Automatic Emergency Braking that can prevent collisions between cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians.

Nationally, nearly 41,000 people died on American roadways in 2023. Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt, who attended the event, attributed the number of deaths to an increase in distracted driving.