One of Port Elizabeth's top cyclists has become the latest victim of a string of attacks on cyclists in recent months by knife wielding thugs on the wild side of the city's beachfront.
Steven Shirley, a recent winner of the 160-kilometre TransElands Mountain Bike race - and with a host of other titles to his name, was accosted yesterday near Willows.
In an emotional post on his facebook page, Shirley writes that after half a million kilometres on his bike and racing all over the world in crazy conditions and against fierce opposition he had finally met his match.
He says he had stopped to relieve himself when he was jumped by three men wielding large knives and a panga.
They had been hiding behind the beachfront toilet on the seaside of the road at the Willows Indian Caravan Park.
Shirley says he hurled his bike at his first attacker but with a knife to his throat, threw his iphone in their direction - they picked it up and fled.
Port Elizabeth police spokesperson, Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg, echoed Shirley's warning to cyclists riding on Marine Drive and around that area to ride in groups and not to stop or ride alone at any time of day.
Van Rensburg said it was also important for cyclists, or runners, to go to the police and open a case if they are attacked so that these matters can be properly investigated and the perpetrators hopefully brought to book.
