BOULDER — On Sunday, thousands of cyclists rode from the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) campus to Diagonal Highway — and turned around after passing a ghost bike that marked the spot where Magnus White was killed last summer.
The memorial ride was aptly named “Ride for Magnus: Ride for Your Life”.
Magnus was 17 years old at the time of his death. He was killed while training for the Junior Mountain Bike World Championships in Scotland. He was proudly wearing his Team USA jersey when a car struck him from behind.
The successful teenager has several titles to his credit. He won the 2021 Junior 17-18 Cyclocross National Championships and competed in European cyclocross races for a season with the USA Cycling National Team. He finished the year at the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Arkansas, the organization said. He represented his community and country at another Cyclocross World Championship in January 2023.
However, Magnus was never one to boast.
“He was always impressive. He could do anything. He was shocking. It was like he was on a whole new level and everyone recognized that but he never talked about it,” said one of his close friends, Amedeo Claudia, before taking part in the memorial ride. “I was a little bit into cycling, but he made me want to cycle much more. But most of the friendship was off the bike. He was more of a friend to me than a cyclist.”
Claudia, who is 18 and will begin her studies at CU in the fall, said the morning was melancholy.
“I’m really glad we’re all doing this, but I can’t get over the sadness that remains,” Claudia said. “It’s great that we’re doing this and we’re doing it for a change, but behind all of this is the death of my friend and that’s why I’m here.”
During the ride, Claudia thought of his friend Magnus. He felt supported by the thousands of other cyclists who did the same.
“There are obviously a lot of people here and they’re not just here to ride their bikes. They’re here because they care,” Claudia said as he finished the ride. “I think as long as we all keep riding our bikes and having fun, his legacy will live on because there’s a little bit of Magnus in all of us today.”
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Jill and Michael White, along with a team of volunteers, planned the trip in just five months. Jill described it as an emotional rollercoaster.
“What happened today was, in my opinion, an expression of great love for Magnus,” said Jill, looking out at the large group of people at the end of the ride. “What we see is hope. Hope for change.”
The Whites said the past year without their son has passed both quickly and slowly, with the pain of missing their son being the only constant.
“We’re here today and we see our son’s name everywhere, right? And it’s beautiful, but it hurts so much at the same time,” Michael said. “I hate that this is his legacy. I absolutely hate it.”
The two caught glimpses of their son’s light throughout the day.
“Most of his friends would ride with us, do tricks while riding and have a lot of fun, just like Magnus. If he was here, he would have a lot of fun and just find a way to mess around and be silly,” Jill said. “He had a tremendous amount of love and you could just see that in the way he would smile at you, the way he would look at you and really light you up from the inside. I think I felt some of that here, just that love for him.”
Jill and Michael were riding electric bikes during the ride and sometimes felt like someone was behind them, urging them to go faster.
“Magnus definitely told us to go faster because all his friends were driving off and dropping us off,” Michael said, smiling. “He would have wanted us to do something like that. You know, he was probably leading the whole group out there.”
The Whites said their son should still be alive today, and they are committed to making roads safer across the country.
According to Bicycle Colorado, 133 pedestrians and 20 cyclists were struck and killed by motorists in Colorado last year.
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At the end of the ride, cyclists gathered at Farrand Field to hear speeches from Jill and Michael White. The Whites were joined by a handful of other speakers, including Governor Jared Polis and Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse.
The Whites called on participants and others to take action on three points to make roads safer across the country.
Locally, they are hoping for support for the North Foothills Bikeway, an 11-mile project between Boulder and Lyons that aims to create more distance between traffic and vulnerable road users such as cyclists.
At the state level, whites want Colorado lawmakers to introduce harsher penalties for negligent homicide.
At the national level, the family wants the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to expand the safety standard for automatic emergency braking to include technology to detect people on bicycles and motorcycles.
For more information about the three initiatives, as well as how to sign a letter in support of the changes, visit the website of the family’s nonprofit organization founded in Magnus’ honor: TheWhiteLine.org.
Yeva Smilianska, 23, is accused of hitting and killing Magnus. She pleaded not guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter in May 2024. A jury trial is currently scheduled for December.
An affidavit states that Smilianska fell asleep at the wheel at the time of the accident.
The White family has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Smilianska.
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