While SunFest is underway for another day, there's a very important piece of it missing this year.
A beloved volunteer of the bike valet program, and a huge part of the biking community, passed away unexpectedly last weekend, just days before the festival he was so excited about.
Ask anyone in the biking community about "The Krusher", and there's one phrase that often gets repeated.
"He was one of those guys that everybody loved," said Raphael Clemente, friend and comrade in the bike valet program at SunFest.
Derek Whirley, affectionately named "The Krusher" in the biking community, passed away unexpectedly this weekend from an illness. Like he did for many years, Whirley, 45, planned to volunteer at this year's bike valet.
"He almost ran the whole thing. He would just take it on and go with it. He was one of those guys that if there was a way to have a positive impact, he would do it," said Clemente, who is also an avid cyclist and the executive director of the Downtown Development Authority.
Krusher also helped Jack 'The Bike Man' Hairston with his Christmas charity each year, which donates thousands of bicycles for children in need.
"He really cares about people," said Hairston.
Krusher and friends would spent countless hours at Hairston's warehouse, nicknamed 'The Henhouse,' rebuilding bikes for children in need. The crew would often pull 48-hour shifts to knock out the builds.
He recalls the time Krusher custom built a bike for a boy with disabilities.
"Fell off of bikes and it was embarrassing for him because the other kids were laughing at him," said Hairston. "It's a hot looking bike. He extended it by welding it here. All of this Krusher did."
Krusher's sister established a GoFundMe to collect money for the bike charity.
"We're just following her wishes," said Clemente. "We were excited about the opportunity to contribute to something that was important to her brother."
And all tips from this year's bike valet at SunFest will also go to help the kids in Krusher's honor.
"We're honoring him as best we can. All of the donations are going to a charity that he supported so much," said Clemente. "You think of a name like Krusher, as this big beastly guy. And he was quite a beast of a guy. But he was like a teddy bear, kids loved him. Everybody loved him."
Click here to learn more about the free bike valet at SunFest.
