Two decades back, cycling was a sport which had a better recognition in Sri Lanka than what you would find here today. Some prominent names were always associated with cycling. They were: A. M. Sumanaweera, M. Henderson and Boniface Perera. When it came to cycling, these three sporting greats had conquered the game like no other. They are considered virtual sporting legends in this sport which is regarded the poor man’s sport in Sri Lanka.

Known by his friends and colleagues as ‘Bonnie,’ he was a renowned cyclist from the late 1960s up to ’90s. His cycling career started off under the guidance of his brother Antony Richard Perera, another famous cyclist in Sri Lanka.

Bonnie’s first attempt at a competitive event was when he participated in a cycling race in 1966 at Ja-Ela, Weligampitiya, in which he borrowed his brother’s cycle. He was placed first in the race, and never looked back since then. He still believes he owes his success in the field of cycling to his brother, who later named the "Oldest Cyclist in the Country" by the time he passed away in November 2008.

Bonnie went on to participate in many National and international events and he was placed among the top three pole positions in over 500 events.

He was also the first cyclist to be selected to participate in the Commonwealth Games. The games were held in Canada in July 1978, and Bonnie was fully sponsored that time by his then employer Ceylon Tobacco who sponsored many others too who required financial support to perform at the highest level.

He also represented Sri Lanka at many cycling events held in Bangkok, Malaysia, India, etc. Through much difficulty due to poor training facilities, Bonnie was placed within the top 25 finishers at those international events.

The Tour De Lanka cycling event, that was organised by Lake House for many years, was the main event for cyclists in Sri Lanka. Bonnie had participated in the Tour De Lanka race in 1969 on a standard bike and was placed second. The event was not held for 10 years since then, and was revived in 1980, when all the standard and racing cyclists were invited to race together.

Bonnie’s greatest achievement can be listed as him being the first person to win Tour De Lanka on a racing bike and that too for three consecutive years, from 1980 to 1982, competing alongside many other renowned racers.

Bonnie was named the National cycling Coach in 1986, and held the title for eight years. He was also an active member of the Cycling Federation of SL since his appointment, and went on to represent the Sri Lankan cycling team in Dubai, Japan and many other countries as Sri Lanka Coach.

An unforgettable time in the history of Sri Lankan cycling was the year 1994 when the participating cyclists of the National team decamped in Hiroshima, Japan.

It was a dark year in the cycling history of Sri Lanka since none of the cyclists participated in the event. Bonnie was not selected that time as the National Coach initially to represent Sri Lanka at this particular Asian Games in Hiroshima as many controversies arose by that time among the members of the Sri Lankan Cycling Federation. There was a lack of sponsorships for the event as well.

However, Bonnie’s wife who was then employed at Air Lanka, managed to sponsor his airline ticket and the Federation finally decided to appoint Bonnie as the National Coach for the event.

However, apart from one cyclist, the entire team decamped while the final event of the Games had none to participate from Lanka. Therefore, with much regret the team manager decided to return to Sri Lanka along with Bonnie and the remaining cyclist. Unfortunately, Bonnie too had changed his mind at the last moment mainly due to lack of support from the Federation then and the burden caused by the decamping of other reps of the Lankan team. The turn of events made a huge impact on Bonnie’s life.

The hardest time faced by him were the 11 years that he spent in Japan away from his family and his cycling, the two things that were the closest to his heart and mind throughout his life.

After leaving Sri Lanka in 1994, Bonnie was back home after eleven years. On May 14, Boniface Perera celebrated his 60th birthday with his loving family who has waited for more than a decade to welcome him in his motherland.

Now he is a proud grandfather of his eldest daughter’s 2 ½-year-old baby girl Naily Suwaksha. His wife Rohini has been a pillar of strength for him always and her courage enabled her to take care of the three young daughters who were 13, 11 and five years of age at the time Bonnie left them to stay in Japan.

Now Bonnie is not involved with the local cycling administration anyway but he eagerly waits to render his support to the local cycling controlling body with his expert knowledge.

Today, he is happy to provide guidance to a few budding cyclists in his hometown hoping to provide them with a brighter future in the field of cycling. Perera still rides his bike every morning early day for over 50 kilometers with these young cyclists. (RSS)