CYCLISTS took to the saddle on Monday evening (6 January 2014) last week to honour biking legend Burry Stander who was killed by a minibus in an accident a year ago. Bikers around the country took part in memorial rides between the 3-6 January.
One of these rides took part in Ballito, starting at Holla Trails and ending at the The new Sugar Rush Precinct situated at Collisheen where a Ghost bike was erected in the large fig tree outside the coffee shop. This ghost bike will be a permanent fixture at Sugar Rush to commemorate all cyclists that have lost their lives on the road doing the sport they love.
Cherise Stander, Burry’s wife attended the event and gave a heartrending thanks to all the bikers at the finish. Many bikers and their families brought flowers and candles were lit and placed under the ghost bike in memory of Stander. Before his death the 25-year-old finished fifth in the men’s cross country race in the 2012 London Olympics. One year before that he became the first South African to win the Cape Epic stage race with Swiss partner Christoph Sauser. At the time his death was described as a “huge loss to the South African cycling fraternity”.
