Colleen Dardagan
FROM Mexico to Italy to Cape Town, hundreds of cyclists took to mountain trails on Sunday to remember South African Olympic cyclist Burry Stander.
Italian Olympic cross-country rider Marco Fontano posted on the Twitter account #IRide4Burry: “Un pensiero al nostro amico (a thought to our friend) Burry Stander. Keep on riding up there.”
Burry was killed on January 3, 2013 when he was struck by a minibus taxi while training in Shelly Beach in KwaZulu-Natal.
The driver of the taxi, Njabulo Nwayose, found guilty of culpable homicide in July, was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. He remains out on R1 000 bail pending an appeal. Three years of the sentence was conditionally suspended for five years and his driving licence was also cancelled.
Burry’s mother Mandie said while yesterday was an emotional day for her, the cyclists who participated in memorial rides overseas, in Cape Town, and closer to home in Ballito and Waterfall had buoyed her spirits. “Bless them all for remembering my special boytjie,” she said.
She said the ride on the south coast had followed one of Burry’s favourite training routes.
“We rode up a hill called The Mushroom. I managed to complete the (14km) ride in two hours, but I was absolutely finished at the end,” she laughed.
Mandie said all the cyclists who participated had to drink an “obligatory” chocolate milk at the halfway mark.
“That was Burry’s favourite drink. Each rider was also given a white stone. They wrote messages on them and put them near a plaque remembering Burry at the top of the hill.”
Burry’s widow Cherise, who now lives in Cape Town, led a memorial ride from Cape Town Stadium in Green Point to Llandudno and back. In a message posted on Twitter, she called for heightened road safety and cycling awareness in the country.
“The #IRide4Burry memorial cycle is an opportunity for us to ask ourselves, am I being a courteous road user? And what am I doing to make sure my experience as a cyclist is as safe as possible?” she said.