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Posted on Mon, Jan. 16, 2006

IN MEMORIAM:
CYCLISTS PEDAL IN TRIBUTE TO RIDER FELLED BY EUCALYPTUS TREE
Byline: Truong Phuoc Khanh, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.

About 300 cyclists, most from the Bay Area's amateur racing community, rode in
solemn silence Sunday at parade pace up the narrow streets near Black Mountain
Road in Los Altos Hills. They stopped at the site where the toppled massive
trunks of a eucalyptus still lay.

In the quiet hills, the riders one by one left blue, yellow and white carnations
on Natoma Road in memory of Dan Plummer, 39, who was fatally struck by the tree
on New Year's Day along the route he biked every week.

The sight of a mile of riders paying tribute to Plummer, a champion cyclist,
research scientist and software engineer from Redwood City, gave the event's
organizer goose bumps.

``It's a very selfish sport,'' said Kerri Kazala, ``and he was a very selfless
person.''

Kazala, of Mill Valley, is team manager and the only woman on Team Spine, a
Northern California amateur road-racing group with 50 members. Plummer was one
of the original six members of the team, formed in 2002.

Plummer's self-appointed role in competition was serving as the team's
``domestique,'' the one who took the wind and resistance for other riders.

``Others rode behind him to conserve energy,'' Kazala said.

Sunday's memorial ride included an 8- to 10-mile loop that encompassed roads
Plummer frequently rode.

A wet, stormy Dec. 31 had so drenched the Bay Area that on New Year's Day, when
Plummer and his weekend riding partner Eric Saltzman were out riding, the hills
were still soaked. One tree on Natoma Road, with a diameter of at least 3 1/2
feet, uprooted and struck Plummer, who was just behind Saltzman.

Saltzman heard a loud snap, turned around, and saw his friend down. He has been
back to the site since with Plummer's family and friends. But Sunday was the
first time he returned to the site on a bike.

``It certainly brought back a lot of good memories of Dan, of riding with him,''
Saltzman said. ``It was an important part of the grieving process. It was really
very fulfilling for me to see so many people come out and honor Dan and pay
tribute to his life.''

Plummer, originally from Massachusetts, had been cycling competitively for about
10 years. He had bachelor's and master's degrees from Brown University and a
doctorate from the University of California-San Diego, where he also served on
the faculty of the School of Medicine.

David Munguia, his wife and two young daughters drove up from San Diego to
participate in Sunday's ride.

A software engineer, Munguia met Plummer years ago in San Diego while the two
worked at the university. Plummer's family had asked his close friends to select
from his personal belongings items meaningful to them.

Munguia will return to San Diego with the Beethoven bust Plummer once kept in
his San Diego laboratory. The composer was a favorite of Malcolm McDowell's
character in ``A Clockwork Orange,'' a cult classic that resonated with Plummer,
a big fan of director Stanley Kubrick's work.

Kazala said Plummer's riding team is planning to hold an annual Dan Plummer
memorial ride every Jan. 1.