R.I.P

A procession of mountain bikers led the funeral parade of fallen Scottish teenage mountain biker Keiran McKandie on Friday.

16 -year-old McKandie was cycling along the B9010 Kellas to Dallas road at about 10.50am on Sunday March 20 when he was hit by a Volkswagen Golf. Despite the efforts of passers by he was declared dead at the scene.

His parents have described how he “lived, breathed, slept and dreamt downhill mountain biking” and that he spent all his spare hours on his bike. They said: “Even while he was eating his breakfast, he would be searching for biking videos on the internet. He loved all his biking buddies and shredding the tracks, and he was at his happiest when he was biking.”

McKandie was remembered with a humanist service at Elgin town hall before being taken to the nearby Pluscarden churchyard where he was buried. Over 25 mountain bikers turned out to lead the procession and they also made a video of Kieran aboard his beloved bike that was shown at the ceremony.

Roughly 500 people attended the service and they heard Gordon and Sandra, his parents, describe their “beautiful son” as “the love of [their] lives and the reason for living.” A tribute was also made at the scene of the incident with a white ‘k’ nailed to a tree along with flowers and messages from Keiran’s friends.

Our thoughts are with Keiran’s family at this difficult time.