'Powerful pedaling force' in bike community killed in Sunday hit-and-run

Chuck Malagodi had just finished fixing up bicycles to be given to children and teens across the state when his friend Mike Lucero offered him a ride home.

Malagodi, who one could argue preferred two wheels over his own two feet, told Lucero “I’ll ride my bike.”

On Sunday afternoon, a mile from his house, Malagodi was struck by the driver of a pickup truck near Kathryn and Carlisle SE. The driver sped off, and the 64-year-old — a father and husband who dedicated his life to bicycle safety — died at the scene, Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said.

Police found the truck at 3 a.m. on Monday, but the driver is at large.

“I know that he (was a) very experienced and careful cyclist and, like myself and many others, he used a bicycle for transportation every day,” said Tim Rogers, Santa Fe Conservation Trust Trails program manager. “And those of us who do that know, just like driving a car, there are risks. You can try and limit the risks, but you can’t control everything and, unfortunately, this is what happened.”

Boston-born Malagodi had an accent that Craig Rivera, his former supervisor at the city of Albuquerque, said “would last in your head for the rest of your life.” Malagodi gave bike tours around the world before coming to Albuquerque, where he went everywhere by bike.

But Malagodi didn’t ride in “fancy bicycle clothing” like others, his friend Ira Kaplan said.

“He didn’t look like a homeless person, but he looked like a guy who rode a bike for transportation, not for sport,” he said.

For Malagodi, it was about more than bicycling from place to place: he wanted to teach and encourage others to ride and maintain a bike.

Malagodi worked with the city for over 23 years, retiring in November 2020 as the outdoor recreation education program coordinator. One of his accomplishments was helping convert a library into the Esperanza Bicycle Safety Education Center, where people learn how to repair and maintain their bicycles and how to ride safely.

City Parks and Recreation Department Director Dave Simon said Malagodi was the “driving force, a powerful pedaling force” behind the center.

“He trained teachers and parents, scout leaders and ministers, firefighters and police officers, nurses and doctors, all of us, how to keep ourselves and our children safer from harm on city roads,” Elena Kayak, Malagodi’s friend and fellow bicycle advocate, wrote in a letter after his death.

Kayak later added, “Every rule, every precaution that a cyclist could follow, Chuck practiced and made it his life’s work to share with others.”

Malagodi particularly enjoyed teaching children.

Over the years, he put together bike rodeos where he set up orange cones inside school parking lots and kids would ride in a small course and learn driveway, stop sign and yield sign safety.

In 2008, Malagodi told the Journal the rodeos were about “teaching kids how to be safe on their bikes on the road.” Bicycling is a good activity for kids, and the bike rodeo could be a way to get them motivated to try it, Malagodi said at the time.

“If you ride a bike regularly in Albuquerque, you have heard of Chuck or have been touched by his work,” said Mary Erwin, whose husband helped Malagodi rebuild bicycles for kids. “He probably single-handedly saved countless children from injuries by his passion and talent for meticulously fitting helmets.”

Malagodi was also part of Free Bikes 4 Kidz NM, a nonprofit that cleans and rebuilds donated bikes to be given away to New Mexico organizations geared toward helping children. He had left the warehouse after fixing bikes when he was struck and killed.

He was “a pillar of the bike community in Albuquerque for decades,” Free Bike 4 Kidz board member Bill Lane said in an email. “So long, in fact, that he helped generations of some families find their way onto bicycles.”

After Malagodi retired from the city, he became a consultant for Safe Routes to School, a national program that encourages students to bicycle and walk to and from school.

Rogers described Malagodi as “the bicycle education guru for the entire state.”

When he wasn’t pedaling or teaching children how to ride, Malagodi was taking his 96-year-old mother to doctor’s appointments or volunteering at the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store in Albuquerque — prompting Kaplan to call Malagodi “St. Chuck.”

“We are devastated by this loss and can only hope that in his death, more drivers will begin to see cyclists and share the road,” Erwin said. “Albuquerque lost a great human and we are the worse for it.”

A memorial service will take place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Holy Ghost Church, 833 Arizona SE. At 2 p.m., there will be a 10-mile ride that will start and end at the Golf and Events Center at Balloon Fiesta Park. The ride will be followed by a celebration of life at 4 p.m. at the events center.

In lieu of flowers, people can send donations to Free Bikes 4 Kidz NM. They can also send money through PayPal or Venmo to angelinamalagodi@gmail.com.