{{Short description|American sport cyclist (1945–2003)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}} {{primary sources|date=August 2018}} {{Infobox person | name = <!-- include middle initial, if not specified in birth_name --> | image = Ken Kifer.jpg | alt = | caption = Kifer on a tour in 2003 | birth_name = | birth_date = October 23, 1945 | birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | death_date = {{Death-date and age|September 14, 2003|October 23, 1945}} | death_place = Alabama | other_names = | occupation = English instructor | known_for = Cycling, Walden }}
'''Ken Kifer''' (October 23, 1945 – September 14, 2003) was an American writer, bicyclist and webmaster. Kifer was a Walden scholar<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~riin/ken.htm |title=This website is dedicated to the memory of Ken Kifer |publisher=Personal.umich.edu |accessdate=2014-05-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131122174629/http://www-personal.umich.edu/~riin/ken.htm |archivedate=2013-11-22 }}</ref> and admirer of Henry David Thoreau, and wrote ''Analysis and Notes on Walden''. His website is still a source of information on bicycling and especially bicycle touring.<ref>{{cite web|author=portrait gallery, open road galleryadventure cycling, bicycle touring, bicycle travel, bicycling, cycling, bike touring info, bike touring, bike resources, adventure travel by bike, bike maps, how to bike tour, how to travel by bike, cycling tour |url=https://www.adventurecycling.org/resources/portrait-gallery/natural-traveler/ |title=Open Road Gallery Online | Resources | Adventure Cycling Association |publisher=Adventurecycling.org |date=2010-05-02 |accessdate=2014-05-03}}</ref>
Kifer was killed by a drunk driver in September 2003 while riding his bicycle {{convert|6|mi|km}} from his home near Scottsboro, Alabama, USA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-37758.html |title=Ken Kifer killed by drunk |publisher=Bikeforums.net |date= |accessdate=2014-05-03}}</ref>
==Biography== Kifer was born in Pittsburgh to Paul and Dorothy Kifer and moved to Gadsden, Alabama in 1954. He attended Jacksonville State University and was a fan of caving.<ref>{{ cite web |author=Ken Kifer |url=http://archives.catnet.dk/www.kenkifer.com/writing/anycave.htm |title=How to Get into Any Cave |date=2000 |accessdate=2018-08-18 }}</ref> A keen cyclist, Kifer went on many long and short tours, many of which he chronicled on his website,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bikeidaho.org/sites/default/files/www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/touring/index.htm|title=Bicycle Camping and Touring -- Cycling Travel Advice and Long-Distance Touring Travelogues}}</ref> and several that he did not, including one to the west coast of the United States that took him through Montana.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.adventurecycling.org/resources/portrait-gallery/natural-traveler/ |title = Natural Traveler {{!}} Adventure Cycling Association|date = 27 August 2012}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * Archives of Ken Kifer's web site: [http://www.phred.org/~alex/kenkifer/www.kenkifer.com/], [http://archives.catnet.dk/www.kenkifer.com/], [https://web.archive.org/web/20120717064053/http://www.kenkifer.com/ on Wayback Machine], [https://www.bikeidaho.org/sites/default/files/www.kenkifer.com/ at Bike Idaho]. * [http://www.majortaylorassociation.org/kifer.htm A Forgotten Hero], an article about cyclist Major Taylor by Kifer. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20130611082953/http://www.adventurecycling.org/resources/portrait-gallery/natural-traveler/ Article on Kifer] from [http://www.adventurecycling.org Adventure Cycling]. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20031013190311/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bicyclingadvocacy/ Bicycling Advocacy discussion group started by Kifer]. * [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1118353/ Why promote cycling?], Ken Kifer, Letters, The BMJ, 2000 Aug 5; 321(7257): 386.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kifer, Ken}} Category:1945 births Category:2003 deaths Category:American male cyclists Category:Male touring cyclists Category:Touring cyclists Category:Road incident deaths in Alabama Category:Cycling road incident deaths Category:Writers from Pittsburgh Category:University of Alabama alumni Category:Cycling writers Category:Cyclists from Pennsylvania Category:20th-century American sportsmen