'Fight for Right:' S.F. Cyclist Honored with Memorial Ride

A Day of Remembrance and Reflection

The gentle sounds of old friends catching up over coffee and pastries in Golden Gate Park gradually faded into silence on a Sunday morning, replaced by the rhythmic whirring of bike wheels. Lara Litchfield-Kimber stood near the fence surrounding the cycling track at the Polo Field, watching as more than a hundred cyclists zoomed past her. The scene was both surreal and deeply emotional.

These cyclists, some dressed in cycling kits and others in hockey jerseys, were riding in honor of Colden Kimber, who was fatally stabbed in July after stepping between a ranting man and a group of women and children at a Muni platform in the Ingleside. Sean Collins, 29, was arrested and charged with murder in connection to the incident.

Colden, a 28-year-old avid cyclist and member of a semiprofessional ice hockey team, was often seen logging miles on the Polo Field cycling track. On Sunday, his younger sister and girlfriend joined the riders, completing 28 minutes, 28 laps, or 28 miles in his memory. Each lap was met with cheers from family and friends, creating a sense of unity and shared grief.

“I just keep waiting for him to show up,” Litchfield-Kimber said. Though he wasn’t physically present, his spirit seemed to linger in the warmth of the sun, which peeked through the clouds as the morning progressed—an unusual sight on the foggy west side of the park.

“It’s funny, because in every picture I have of him out here, it’s gray and misty,” she said. “It felt as though he had sent the rays of sun from above.”

Litchfield-Kimber also felt her son’s presence in other ways. When she retrieved his phone, she noticed that both she and her son had nearly identical photos of the green, spiky leaves of a succulent swirling around the plant's center as their lock screens. This shared fondness for nature reminded her of their bond.

“It’s not something you’d expect from a 28-year-old man,” she said. “Some people share memes. … He and I exchanged nature photos.”

The emotional weight of the day was palpable—grief and lingering shock mingled with the overwhelming love and support from Kimber’s closest friends and family, as well as acquaintances who had only met him a few times. Many shared stories about how he had impacted their lives and touched so many in his 28 years.

A GoFundMe campaign set up to support his family had raised nearly $140,000 as of Sunday. “As soon as he walked in the room, you knew he was a good dude,” said Alex Bell, who played hockey with Kimber. “He just had that energy. … He was an outstanding human.”

Indeed, “he was a really good guy” was the refrain repeated by nearly everyone who had met him. At the gathering, attendees sat around a table covered in white painted rocks, set there by Kimber’s family members to create a memorial for him. They were encouraged to write messages on the rocks and then take them to place them around San Francisco, leaving a piece of his memory throughout the city.

On those stones, some wrote notes thanking Kimber for fixing their bikes, for riding with them, or for many mornings of hockey passing drills. Others simply wrote his name, alongside drawings of bikes or his hockey number, 7.

“Dear Colden,” one read, “you will always be remembered as a rock star.” Another: “May you continue cycling in the heavens.”

And on one stone, a call for others to follow Kimber’s lead: “Always stand up for what’s right.”

The event served as a powerful reminder of the impact one person can have on a community. It was a day filled with remembrance, reflection, and the enduring legacy of a young man whose life left a lasting impression on all who knew him.