A BIKE riding buddy of bashing victim Kris Mandeville is calling on all cyclists to join in a ride for his mate on Friday night.
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Mark Riddell says it will also act as a sign of solidarity that the people of Albury will no longer tolerate such senseless violence.
He had eaten kebabs with Mr Mandeville only minutes before Sunday morning’s brutal attack by a group of teenagers and has the blessing of his mate’s parents.
The news of the ride was spread across Albury by flyers and emails yesterday as a second teen was charged over the incident.
An 18-year-old man was charged by detectives with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm.
He will appear before Albury Court today after being refused bail.
A girl, 15, has also been charged with common assault.
Friday night’s ride will start in QEII Square at 5.30pm.
“It would be great to get everyone there, whether they are on a bike or not, we need to send a message,” Mr Riddell said yesterday.
The ride will continue to the tax office car park where Mr Mandeville traded as Resurrection Cycles each Sunday morning.
The cyclists will then return to QEII Square for a short prayer.
“At the moment I have no idea of how many people we might get there, but the Albury-Wodonga Cycling club will be sending out an email to its 400 members and flyers are going up in Dean Street and across Albury,” Mr Riddell said.
“I want to do this to bring the people of Albury together for Kris and his family, his mum thinks it is a wonderful idea, and also to raise the awareness of senseless violence in this society.
Mr Riddell said he and Mr Mandeville had parted company in Dean Street shortly before the attack on Sunday morning, his mate in good spirits and excited about a new bike he had made from recycled parts.
“All Kris was about was cycling, he was just so excited about this new bike, a single speed bike he had put together, it was a real beauty,” he said.
Mr Mandeville, 32, was flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for emergency surgery for injuries that included a fractured skull and jaw, torn left eyeball and severe facial lacerations.
