Top-rated Utah cyclist Allan Butler was remembered Saturday as a man who was passionate about his sport, a gentleman at every turn and an excited new father.
Butler, 29, was struck and killed by a taxi Sept. 30 while walking across the street in Las Vegas. He and friend Marc Yap were in Nevada for the annual Interbike trade show.
"We're here to celebrate Allan's life," Yap said as hundreds gathered for a memorial ride.
Butler, originally from Idaho Falls, was one of Yap's teammates on Logan Race Club's Healthy Choice/Goble Knee Clinic elite cycling team. The Utah Cycling Association rated Butler the top cyclist in the state for 2003 and 2005.
Saturday's ride went to the top of Emigration Canyon and back to the start at This Is the Place Heritage Park.
"It was his favorite ride," said Cindy Yorgason, an official with the USA Cycling Federation who helped lead riders up the canyon on her motorcycle. "He really was one of the kindest cyclists around."
Butler was always someone concerned about bicycling safety, she added.
Butler raced in Europe and all over this country. He was at an amateur level just below pro when he died, Yap said.
Butler left behind his wife, Jenny, and 9-month-old daughter, Odessa, here in Salt Lake City. They will benefit from funds raised by the ride and through money donated to an account set up at Morgan Stanley.
Bicycling had been Butler's passion since age 15; he learned to ride by age 3.
"It's as addicting for these riders as it was for him," Jenny Butler said.
Then there was the human side of her husband.
"He was a gentleman — no one had a bad word to say about him," she said. "I'm going to miss his excitement toward his daughter."
Both Butler's wife and mother, Tammie Wood, donned team jerseys for the ride. Wood remembered a childhood when her son would ride with one foot on the handlebars and one on the seat — he fell a lot.
"He was always getting back up and doing it again," Wood said.
Racing teammate and one of the ride's organizers, Gardie Jackson, said it was important to gather Utah's tight-knit cycling community soon after Butler's death.
"He wasn't just another racer — he was the best in Utah," Jackson said. "We don't want his memory to be lost — he was just the most incredibly passionate guy."
E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com