Riders pay tribute to cyclist
The 54-year-old cyclist killed in a crash near taki has been farewelled by a large crowd at a funeral in Levin.
Peter Jenkins died after his bike and a vehicle collided on State Highway 1 near Gleeson Rd, Manakau, on November 3.
A large crowd gathered to farewell the Manakau man at the Levin Domain on Saturday.
The service was followed by a ‘‘lap of silence’’, in which Jenkins’ coffin was driven around the domain track in a hearse and followed by a cyclist.
That was followed by a second lap accompanied by a group of riders, who then followed the hearse to Levin’s HarveyBowler Funeral Services.
Speaking to Stuff on Friday, Jenkins’ parents, Val and John Jenkins, said they were at their home about 1.5 kilometres from the crash site when they heard sirens on the main highway on Sunday. They had no idea their son had been killed.
Later, they found out a cyclist had been killed near the village.
Val Jenkins, feeling a ‘‘mum’s worry’’, called her son and left a message.
John Jenkins popped round to his son’s nearby home, which was dark and empty, with his van parked outside. ‘‘Peter wasn’t scared of the road, whether it was dark or not, but he wouldn’t be out cycling at night,’’ Val Jenkins said. Later, when the security lights turned on in the Jenkins’ driveway, they were greeted by two policemen who were there to deliver the news.
Peter Jenkins had visited earlier that same day. He left to go home and have some lunch. ‘‘He must have decided it was a nice day, ‘I’ll go for a ride’,’’ Val Jenkins said.
They described their son as a quiet achiever. He didn’t boast; he set about getting things done, then did them. And he loved cycling, Val Jenkins said.