The cycling community has been left reeling after a memorial to Jason Lowndes was stolen and its cement support defaced in Spring Gully on the weekend.
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Bendigo Mountain Bike Club president Stuart MacGregor said the monument, a white bike concreted into the sand, was placed in the memory of Lowndes, a professional cyclist who was killed while cycling on Sedgwick Road, Mandurang in 2017.
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"It was really, really disheartening and upsetting to see that it had been both defaced and that we'd lost the white bike," he said.
"It's something that we have front and centre. We put that memorial in that location because it provided significant visibility to all road users, but particularly the bike riders who travel past that point, be it mountain bikers through our trailhead or by the road riders who travel through that One Tree Hill roundabout."
The monument on Mandurang Rd was unveiled in 2018 at a memorial attended by Lowndes' parents and representatives of the White Bike Foundation.
Since 2015, the White Bike Foundation has advocated for the safety of cyclists, working alongside all road users.
He said the theft was particularly upsetting as it had Lowndes' name on and "it would be hard not to understand what it represented".
"It's affected a lot of people," Mr MacGregor said.
"To think that somebody would consciously go and vandalise and then steal that white bike just beggars belief that people would do that."
REMEMBERING JASON LOWNDES
Members and supporters of both the mountain bike club and the Bendigo and District Cycling Club took to social media to voice their disappointment.
Jason Lowndes was a cyclist who rode professionally with Canadian and Israeli cycling teams.
He represented Australia at the Road World Championships in Qatar in 2016 and finished sixth in the under-23 road race.
Mr MacGregor said police had been notified and would be investigating.
Anyone with any information was urged to contact the club or Bendigo Police on 5448 1300.
Despite the theft, the club pushed on with its women's three-hour mountain bike challenge, an event in its sixth year designed to promote the sport to women and girls.
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Jonathon Magrath
Jonathon has been living and working in Bendigo since March 2021, currently working as a general reporter. Contact him on jonathon.magrath@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
Jonathon has been living and working in Bendigo since March 2021, currently working as a general reporter. Contact him on jonathon.magrath@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
