Members of Ottawa's cycling community came together to remember the man killed on Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.
Junfeng Wu was struck and killed while cycling to work just before 7 a.m. on Dec. 7.
Dozens of cyclists and advocates returned to the scene of the crash, at Onigam Street, bringing with them white lights or flashlights to hold up to the sky.
"This one really hit home," said cyclist Natasha Zanolin, who helped organize the vigil.
"It will stick with me."
Zanolin didn't know Wu personally, but was devastated to hear the news.
"Cycling is amazing, it's freedom, it's fantastic," said Zanolin.
"We shouldn't be afraid to cycle."
Zanolin felt she had to do something to honour Wu, and so with her husband Eric Thibault, they organized a vigil to create awareness of the dangers on the road for cyclists.
"It's dangerous being out there," said Thibault, who is also an avid cyclist.
"We need to take the opportunity to honour that cyclist."
Thibault says having an open dialogue helps educate both cyclists and drivers.
"That's one of the ways of doing it," said Thibault.
"Not letting it be forgotten, it's an accident, but it can be prevented."
Kitchissipi Councillor Jeff Leiper rode his bike to the vigil, despite inclement weather.
"There have been far too many cycling deaths in our city," said Leiper.
"Is this somebody I know, somebody I care about, somebody I love?"
Some of the paths used by cyclists are multi-use paths, and are used as winter trails during the winter season, for activties like cross-country skiing.
Leiper says more needs to be done to keep cyclists protected.
We need to start plowing our winter infrastructure, we need to start building more," said Leiper.
"We shouldn't be fighting with cross-country skiers and pedestrians on who gets to use the infrastructure, it needs to accommodate all of us."
A ghost bike was installed at the corner of the intersection as a reminder to drivers of the life los there. According to the vigil's organizers, the City of Ottawa approved the installation for a period of six months.
It's still unclear who was at fault in this collision. As of Friday afternoon, the RCMP did not have an update in the investigation and no charges had been laid.
The 40-year-old is being remembered as more than a cyclist, but as a husband and father. His wife attended the vigil, standing in solidarity with the cyclists. The couple have a four-year-old daughter.
