Sombre tribute for Bay biker

Family and friends stand together at the memorial ride and tribute to Cole Walker. Photo / Thomas Falconer

Hundreds of family, friends and fellow mountain bikers have taken part in a memorial ride and tribute to Cole Walker, forming a colourful display in the Redwoods.

The 20-year-old Te Puke man died days after he was thrown from his mountain bike in the forest in a freak accident last month.

Those at Saturday's memorial dressed in Mr Walker's riding colours as a tribute to a young man who was "nutty" about mountain biking, organiser Donna Pickard said.

"His colours were orange and blue, his bike was orange and blue and he just liked that combination," she said.

"He was nutty about mountain biking, we all are. He didn't have a favourite track, just as long as he was on the bike.

"He just loved riding, he loved everything about riding."

She said attendees went to the Pigeon Run track where Mr Walker crashed, where there were speeches and a minute's silence. Friends and family also laid flowers at the site.

Riders then went down the Challenge track in a tribute.

She said the large turn-out showed the solidarity of the mountain biking community.

"Whether you knew him or not, everyone sticks together, everyone's there to help.

"A lot of people couldn't get to his funeral, I think it gave some people closure."

Tak Mutu from Mountain Bike Rotorua, who provided bikes for the ride, said the day allowed people to let their grief out. Mr Mutu said he did not know Mr Walker, but had recognised his face from races.

"Going to where Cole had the accident ... that was really sombre, I guess it was a time to let a little bit of that grief out.

"The number of riders going down was non-stop for three minutes."

He said the incident should not dampen people's enjoyment of mountain biking.

"It was definitely really sad but the reality is it's an extreme sport and there are half a million visitors to the Redwoods every year. Accidents, especially fatal ones, don't happen that often."