Mourners say farewell to Rab
MOURNERS gathered in Dunfermline last week to say a final farewell to late mountain bike star Rab Wardell.
Family and friends of the 37-year-old came together at Dunfermline Crematorium last Wednesday for his funeral, following his death last month.
Rab, who lived in Glasgow with his partner, two-time Olympic cycling gold-medallist Katie Archibald, died after suffering a cardiac arrest at home.
He died just two days after he had won the elite men’s title at the Scottish MTN XC (Cross-Country Mountain Bike Series), and Katie revealed in a heartbreaking social media post that she had tried to resuscitate her partner.
Ahead of the service, cyclists who knew Rab gathered at KDM Group East End Park before following the cortege to the service, where Katie told mourners that he would always go out of his way to help friends and family.
She also revealed that he first told her he loved her while they were out on a bike ride together, and said: “I was aghast. I said, ‘You can’t say that here, in the rain, on a bike ride’.
“After chastising his timing, I told him the truth, that I loved him too.
“From then on, I told him that every day. In some ways, it’s a comfort that Rab knew how much I loved him.”
Katie also went on to reveal that, when they were apart, Rab would send her love songs – and a recording he had sent her, of himself playing ‘You Can Talk To Me’ – was broadcast during the service.
In it, he could he heard saying: “So I had this funny idea to sing you this song”, before telling her the “downside for me is it’s all a little high for me, so I will strain and sound silly at some bits, but I’m not scared.”
Mourners laughed when, at the end of the song, Rab could be heard swearing as he said it had not been very good, with The Very Reverend Hunter Farquharson, who conducted the service, remarking to
Katie: “I didn’t know you were going to keep that bit in.”
Rab’s father, Jack, joked that, in hindsight, it was “no surprise he came in a rush, two days late” when he was born, as he paid tribute to his son, referring to his love of bikes.
“He has touched many people’s hearts and inspired many more,” he said.
“He made us laugh, he made us proud. Rest in peace.”
Rab, whose first cycling club was Sandy Wallace Cycles, in Inverkeithing, competed for Scotland at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and ran his own cycling coaching business.
In 2020, he broke the record for cycling the iconic West Highland Way and, this year, turned professional in mountain bike racing.
Tributes paid to Rab came from figures including Sir Chris Hoy, while retired cyclist Charline Jones, who is also from Dunfermline, and was a close friend, described him as “always laughing and just really happy”.
Another close friend, James McCallum, who raced with Rab and was on the Scottish Cycling board, said that he would be “missed worldwide”, and that he was a “standout beacon of hope and determination to anyone in our cycling community”.
British Cycling also paid tribute, noting: “While his achievements on the bike are many, his greatest impact and legacy is in the memories of those who knew him best, who enjoyed chatting with him at bike races, sharing a joke and benefitting from his wisdom and experience.
“His passing leaves an indelible hole in our community, and the number of tributes to him over recent days is testament to the highest regard and admiration in which he was held.”
A collection was held at Rab’s funeral for mental health charity Tiny Changes, which was close to his hear.
An online fundraising page for the charity has been set up, within which it was revealed that Rab was also set to be announced as its first ambassador. To donate, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jack-wardell1.