In Memory

 

On a cold sunny Saturday November 25, 2006 at approximately 7:20 AM, one of the riders and a dear friend in our group died in a freak accident at China Camp on the Bay View Trail just past the switchback by the second bridge. This is the section approximately .6 mile from the paved road on top of Bay View.

As for the accounts on what happened, Dan and close friend Alex Yuen had an early start so that they could do a loop before the rest of the group showed up for an 8 AM ride. As they where making their way up the usual loop, to the paved road and back, they decided to stop. After Dan tried to get back on his bike after a brief stop, he lost his balance and suddenly fell to the single-track trail below. He landed head first on the lower section, which was approximately 4 to 5 feet lower. It happened very quickly as Alex immediately applied CPR for 30 minutes or until the Paramedics arrived but to no avail. The initial opinion of the responding Coroner was that he must have broken his neck from the fall and died within seconds. This was, in fact, confirmed after further examination.

 Dan was a mountain biker in every sense of the sport. He rode several days a week if not every day, rain or shine. Although he has ridden everywhere in the Bay Area, China Camp was one of his favorite areas and has ridden the park countless times; sometimes all the way from his home in the San Francisco Sunset District and back. Dan was very fit and has raced in the sport and expert class winning numerous victories and medals. He loved cycling and would always find the time to ride whether it's out doors or on the trainer. Iron Man Dan (as we fondly call him) would have been 57 next March 3 and is survived by his wife Ana, son Simon, daughter Jenny, son in law Anthony and three grandchildren. 

From Cross Country to Trail to Downhill, Dan did them all. He owned eight bikes from his favorite Ibis Hardtail to a Santa Cruz V-10. We got Dan to do a road ride once but he found this too boring.  

Dan discovered mountain biking through his son Simon. He is very proud to tell this story many times over. He states that when his son was about 14 years old, he started to mountain bike and Dan would have to drive him to different riding spots and wait. Instead of just waiting for Simon to finish riding, he bought a bike and started riding himself. Dan was the type of person that wanted to do well in anything he did and thus, a monster inside Dan was unleashed. He bought Ned Overend's book on Mountain Biking and started practicing various maneuvers daily.

Some of Dan's favorite places to ride, aside from China Camp, are the Marin Headlands, the Crack at Montara and Downieville. Alex and Dan would drive up to Downieville early morning on weekends, do 3 shuttled rides and come back to San Francisco the same day. It took 4.5 hours by car one-way and they would do this several times during the summer.

Dan also had a funny side. On two of his bikes are a couple of bells. When he would catch up to one of us on the trail, we would hear the sound of tires crunching the ground and then, "Ding, ding, ding, why are you breathing so hard? Ha ha ha," As he passed and disappeared up ahead. I think he allowed us to go ahead just so he could torture us with his bell ringing. Dan was humble about his cycling abilities. Even if he was fast and could out pace us, he would often hold back so that no one is dropped or lost.

Dan was, and still is, an inspiration to us all. Not just to us, his riding buddies, but to those that were able to know him on and off the trail. Like his work, he treated his riding passionately. He shows us that the three most important things to him are his family first, work second, and cycling third. His relaxed, quiet, caring and “press on regardless” style will be missed. God speed Daniel "The Iron Man" Yu.

Live to ride, ride to live.