Advocate and journalist Tim Blumenthal has died

Tim Blumenthal, who blazed a wide-ranging path as a cycling journalist before a mid-career switch to become one of the most influential cycling advocates in the United States, has passed away after fighting cancer for the past two years. He was 70 years old.

Blumenthal loved bikes, travel and sports of all kinds. One of the friendliest people in cycling, he had a ready smile and greeting for everyone and at events seemed to know literally everyone in attendance. He was an enthusiastic and talented storyteller who loved to regale friends with tales of his latest adventures around the world, and old stories of covering major events like the Olympics.

Blumenthal got his start in cycling journalism with VeloNews before going on to work for Bicycling and NBC Sports, where he helped with coverage on seven Olympic Games. He also worked on cycling coverage with ESPN. The work with NBC overlapped his career switch to cycling advocacy.

In 1993, Blumenthal left Bicycling to become executive director with the mountain bike non-profit the International Mountain Bicycling Association. In his time at IMBA he grew it from a small, mostly volunteer-run organization to a professional outfit with dozens of staff, a multi-million dollar budget and coast-to-coast initiatives around trailbuilding, access and other issues. Eleven years later, he switched from fat tires to overall bicycle safety and transportation advocacy with BikesBelong (later renamed PeopleforBikes).

Blumenthal helped oversee PeopleforBikes' expansion to become the primary bicycle industry lobby in the United States as well, with a 2019 merger with the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association. Blumenthal retired the next year to Vermont and was diagnosed in 2024 with stage 4 thymic carcinoma, an aggressive cancer. He is survived by his wife Lise, son Ryan and daughter Jana among other family. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to PeopleforBikes. Escape Collective extends its sincere sympathies and condolences to Blumenthal's family and extensive network of friends.