Recent violent incidents along Tucson’s Chuck Huckelberry Loop have rattled the city’s cycling community, even as a longtime local bike shop owner says he hasn’t seen a sharp drop in business.
Elliot Dumont, owner of Roadrunner Bicycles, has been part of the bike culture in Tucson for decades, and he says camaraderie is a natural outgrowth of the sport. “You start to get to know one person, then another person. And it can feel like a tight-knit community real quick,” he said.
But that sense of community has been tested by recent events. On Sept. 23, 44-year-old cyclist Enrique “Kix” Mercado was fatally stabbed while riding with a group near First Street and Wetmore. The Tucson Police Department later arrested 26-year-old Michael Francisco on a second-degree murder charge in connection with the incident…