Solidarity Ride for Alex Pretti

On Saturday, January 24, 37-year-old Alex Pretti was killed by ICE officers in Minneapolis, making it the second ICE killing after Renee Nicole Good. Since Alex happened to be a cyclist, Angry Catfish of Minneapolis organized a memorial ride in Alex’s honour, while over 100 other cities around the world held their own rides in solidarity. Toronto’s ride saw over 60 people take part which started at Christie Pits Park and ended with a moment of silence in front of the US consulate on University Avenue.

This happened to be my first ride since Sunday’s record-breaking snowstorm which saw 46 centimetres of snow fall at Pearson Airport with higher amounts recorded downtown. Unfortunately, I had to take the lane most of the way since the bike lanes were still not usable per this photo of Bloor at Sherbourne. While there was a plow through, it’s clear it wasn’t enough given all that snow.

There were some spots such as the bridge crossing Mount Pleasant pictured below that were cleared, but small clearings are not enough to encourage people to continue riding in the winter.

A sizable crowd had gathered at Christie Pits Park with some media present from CP24 and Radio-Canada.

Here’s Albert being interviewed in French by Radio-Canada. You can read their report here.

Dave gives some opening remarks including the ride route.

A newcomer from Iran who used to live in Minneapolis for part of his life and knew Alex offered some remarks and expressed the need for people to be kind and to get to know each other better.

Getting in position to leave Christie Pits.

Here we go!

Riding along Bloor through Koreatown. One of the riders pictured here even brought some shovels.

It may be cold outside, but still a nice day for a ride!

At Bloor and Brunswick, the eastbound bike lane was cleared thanks to Albert, as well as some volunteers with TCBC and staff from Curbside Cycle. Jun wrote about the snow clearing efforts here.

Turning onto University.

Riding past Queen’s Park.

Here’s a video I recorded at Queen’s Park.

Thanks to the roughly 60 people who took part in Toronto's solidarity ride for Alex Pretti, as well as to the over 100 other cities around the world who also hosted rides. Here's a video I recorded as the ride passed by Queen's Park. #BikeTO #BikeSky #TOpoli #VikingBiking #StopICE

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— Robert Zaichkowski (@rzaichkowski.bsky.social) January 31, 2026 at 4:08 PM

South on University.

Gathered in front of the US consulate where we blocked the intersection for the moment of silence. There were some motorists honking their horns out of impatience.

At this point, we dispersed. I returned home via University and Bloor. While the east side of University was decently plowed from Elm to College Streets, the rest of the way required taking the lane.

Thanks to The Biking Lawyer and bike shops such as Urbane Cyclist for organizing this ride on such short notice, as well as to those of you who took part. Let’s keep calling out the Trump administration’s reckless policies including their ongoing ICE deployment in Minneapolis (and other cities) in honour of Alex and Renee.

As for the snow blocked bike lanes, let’s flood 311 with requests to get them cleared ASAP!

You can read Jun's take on today's ride here.