Tianna Smith has thanked the mountain bike community for its outpouring of emotion following the tragic death of her son, Steve Smith.

Steve passed away while on an enduro motorbike ride near his home on May 11 at the age of just 26-years-old. Since his death there have been countless online tributes from his fellow racers and race fans, memorials held at race events and nearly $40,000 raised on a GoFundMe page.

Tianna has been integral to her son’s success and was a large part of his section in the 2008 Seasons film where she was seen shuttling him up Mt Provost to practice.

She took to Stevie’s Facebook Athlete page to say: “I would like to thank all of the followers, fans, and friends of Steve, for the awesome display of love shown for him. Whether it be through his Facebook fan page, Instagram, Pinkbike, or other websites, there has been a tremendous amount of messages…I have tried to read them all, and answer as many as possible, but I would need a team to complete this task.

“As his mom, I know he is wonderful, but I have also found, more than I could have ever dreamed, that people all over the world loved him as well. I love reading all of the “Stevie” stories and receive great comfort in them.

“I would also like to thank those who contributed to his “Go fund me” account. When the dust has settled, and I need to keep busy, I will come up with a way I can use the funds to keep Steve’s memory alive. …some type of “Kids and Bikes” program will be developed. Again, thank you all for your kind words and I will make sure that the “Stevie Smith” story continues! Love and miss my boy!“

A memorial for Stevie is being held tomorrow in his home town of Nanaimo, attendees have been asked to bring cowbells to celebrate “one last run”. The UCI also confirmed yesterday that Stevie will also be remembered at the Fort William World Cup with a memorial run.