Callum, 15, completes project to honour his dad
Callum Bryant was only 13 when he endured the shock of losing his father moments after he’d cheered him across the finish line of a Nelson mountainbike event.
Rob Bryant was a fit, active, outdoors-loving 53-year-old and his fatal heart attack came out of the blue.
Two years on Callum, who turned 15 a few days ago, has completed a six-month project to honour his dad.
The Robert Bryant commemor- ative bike seat – or ‘‘Rob’s Reign’’ was officially launched on Sunday with a gathering of friends and family at the top of Turners Track in the Codgers Mountainbike Park behind the Brook Valley.
Callum, a keen and competitive mountainbiker, came up with the concept, based on Rob’s yellow Giant Reign mountainbike.
He scaled up the drawings and with the help of his grandfather, Gordon Smith, and the technical department at his school, Nelson College, welded the frame and built the seat.
He also did the finishing work.
‘‘Rob was quite a craftsman and Callum’s picked up a lot of those traits,’’ said his mother, Julie Bryant.
The Nelson Mountainbike Club helped with the site and two weeks ago friends assisted them install the seat.
It offers views over the land and
Rob was quite a craftsman and Callum’s picked up a lot of those traits.’’
the sea at a point where riders can rest and get ready to head downhill.
On Saturday Callum and Julie were there to get the ‘‘Rob’s Reign’’ sign ready for Sunday’s unveiling.
A play on the name of Rob Bryant’s bike and his love of the outdoors, it too was designed by Callum.
Julie Bryant said the site had lovely views and connected with the way her husband had been in touch with the environment.
‘‘You can go up there and take time and just sit and reflect, and it’s also got a practical purpose for bikers to stop and put on their body armour before they race down Turners bike track.
‘‘You can actually walk up. It’s there for everybody to enjoy and to use – but to respect as well.’’
Sunday’s gathering for the unveiling, attended by 60 people, was ‘‘a way of bringing everything together and just acknowledging everything and everybody’’.
Proud of Callum’s achievement, she said his project had been important to both of them. ‘‘It had a purpose. It’s helped. ‘‘Rob would be immensely proud.’’