Cycling Thread 2

[cral12]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

This sad news was starting to circulate earlier this week while it was still unconfirmed. The Alberta cycling community lost a giant with the tragic death of Dr. Darren Markland while mountain biking out in the Nordegg area.

Known around the Edmonton area for his coffee machine/pizza oven cargo bike, towing a canoe by bike to commute partially to work on the North Saskatchewan river, his passion for shredding mountain bike trails just as easily as commuting to his shifts at the hospital by bike.

He was also a tireless advocate for proper healthcare spending in this province, and his tweets as an ER doc during the pandemic were a glimpse into a world of chaos that he seemed to be able to navigate with grace, and words of hope that struck a chord with so many.

I was lucky enough to meet him once, back when Calgary hosted the Winter Cycling Congress in 2019. He brought down the coffee cargo bike, and at the usual Friday morning "Coffee Outside" gathering he slung the beans and chatted with everyone. He is also the rider that introduced me to the world of heat exchanger masks for the cold winter riding.

We lost one of the good ones for sure, gone far too soon. RIP to the good doctor.

https://cyclingmagazine.ca/mtb/edmon...rren-markland/

Ah no!

I never met in person, but thoroughly enjoyed his musings on social media about biking and nature (and was a wise voice during the pandemic)...
Seemed like a great guy.

Ride in peace, Doc Darren...

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

This is messed up.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...ered-1.7642927

Good lord, that's terrible. I ride under that bridge every single work day.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

This sad news was starting to circulate earlier this week while it was still unconfirmed. The Alberta cycling community lost a giant with the tragic death of Dr. Darren Markland while mountain biking out in the Nordegg area.

Known around the Edmonton area for his coffee machine/pizza oven cargo bike, towing a canoe by bike to commute partially to work on the North Saskatchewan river, his passion for shredding mountain bike trails just as easily as commuting to his shifts at the hospital by bike.

He was also a tireless advocate for proper healthcare spending in this province, and his tweets as an ER doc during the pandemic were a glimpse into a world of chaos that he seemed to be able to navigate with grace, and words of hope that struck a chord with so many.

I was lucky enough to meet him once, back when Calgary hosted the Winter Cycling Congress in 2019. He brought down the coffee cargo bike, and at the usual Friday morning "Coffee Outside" gathering he slung the beans and chatted with everyone. He is also the rider that introduced me to the world of heat exchanger masks for the cold winter riding.

We lost one of the good ones for sure, gone far too soon. RIP to the good doctor.

https://cyclingmagazine.ca/mtb/edmon...rren-markland/

Obituary from the Edmonton Journal:

https://edmontonjournal.remembering....and-1093111486

Darren did not want a formal funeral. If you are reading this and want to honour him the way he would have wanted, do what he did every day: go outside, ride your bike, enjoy nature, and do something kind for a stranger.



The human heart is

The size of a

Fist

Clenched.

Indefatigable, and infallible

On pain of death.

And yet it skips

At the most curious

Times,

To remind us of its finite

Beats.

And perhaps to attend us

To use them both wisely

And with abandon.



— Darren Markland, August 2025

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

If you are reading this and want to honour him the way he would have wanted, do what he did every day: go outside, ride your bike, enjoy nature, and do something kind for a stranger.

I was introduced to Darren and his wife last year by mutual friends, and had dinner with them just last month. I found him to be an incredibly interesting person. Even though we were only slightly more than acquaintances, his passing has been affecting me quite a bit since I learned about it on Sunday. I can only imagine how much his family and friends must be grieving.

His passing is a huge loss for the medical and cycling communities as well. And really all of society. There aren't a lot of people actively working every day to make a difference, but Darren was one. I'll do my best to honour the request from his obituary quoted above.