Last February, 21-year-old Ronnie Ramon Huerta Jr. crashed his Ford 500 sedan into a pack of cyclists during the Palm Springs century. Here’s how the death of one rider, Mark Kristofferson, led to an exceptionally rare murder charge.
Let’s get this straight: if something horrible happens to me on a ride, don’t ever say I died doing what I love. I feel no affection about the idea of getting pulverized by a 4,000-pound SUV, especially if the driver was flipping through Instagram. Still, I recognize that something might happen. And rather than leave it up to other people to commemorate my life and death on the bike, I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands—with facts based on a terrifying encounter with a speeding Porsche that actually happened—just in case the next run-in turns out differently.
It starts with a deadly crash, like the one that happened in October on a busy Orange County street. Then the volunteers build the memorial. Peter Flax embedded with the team that makes ghost bikes in Southern California to record the process—and the tragedy that triggered it—from beginning to end.