Sydney cyclists hold commemorative bike ride for Martin Place siege victims

Updated

A group of Sydney cyclists has taken part in a commemorative bike ride to pay tribute to the victims of the Martin Place siege as well as those who survived the ordeal.

Many of the riders, who are members of the Muslim community, gathered at Lakemba mosque in the city's south-west early this morning for the journey to the CBD.

The group of about 50 cyclists left flowers at the memorial to pay their respects to Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson, who died in the siege at the Lindt cafe.

They also observed a minute's silence and held signs displaying the words 'I'll ride with you' - a reference to a Twitter hashtag widely used to support the Islamic community after the siege.

Sophie Bartho from Bicycle New South Wales said the tribute was simple but compassionate.

"It's a delightful way to show the unity that's in the community and that we all support each other regardless of our backgrounds and our beliefs," she said.

"We have enormous diversity ... and it's interesting because they say the bicycle is a symbol of freedom, so I think there's another interesting perspective or reflection in that in itself."

Last night thousands of people also paid tribute to the siege victims at Sydney's annual Carols in the Domain Christmas concert.

The executive producer of Carols in the Domain, Michael Mackay, said the event - attended by NSW Premier Mike Baird and Lindt cafe staff members - acknowledged the siege in an effort to help unify the city.

"We see this as our most important Carols in the Domain ever," he said.

"We understand what it means to people of Sydney in particular and we understand that people want to come to this event and they do see this event as perhaps part of that healing process."

Security has been beefed up across Sydney and at Martin Place following the siege, with the increased police presence to continue into the new year.

Topics: crime, law-crime-and-justice, grief, community-and-society, sydney-2000, australia

First posted