david auker

* * * * * * *

Roger Sumner...



Roger stayed at my place for the Nike Masters' Games. Definitely a

gentleman in all respects, right down to the car he drove here from

Vancouver, British Columbia: an old Bentley with steering wheel on the

right side. It may have been a '37, the year of Roger's birth. He

gathered us up in it for a jaunt to the local restaurant.



When I started racing in '72, and did the occasional foray across the

border into Western Canada, Roger was one of the superior riders up

there, along with Tom Morris, Ron Hayman and Bill Wild. Whether racing

against them in B.C. or when they were frequently down here, it was rare

that anyone from Oregon or Washington bested them!



Roger had this stutter...sometimes in mid-sentence he would just freeze

up! I learned early on that waiting was really worth it, as he was

extremely articulate in thought, vocabulary and compassion.



Very bright, serious and friendly (but competitive enough to win!),

Roger Sumner was (and is) a light to cherish.



* * * * * * *

Tom Durkin

Another very sad day for cycling. I am devastated again.



Tom



 



             Roger Sumner dies following road accident

             This report filed December 12, 2000



             By VeloNews Interactive

             wire services



             One of Canadian cycling's most respected

ambassadors, Roger

 Sumner, 63, died on December 9 from injuries he suffered a

few days

 earlier. Sumner was struck by a car when riding his bike

near his

 Vancouver home. He died in Vancouver General Hospital.



             Born in 1937, Sumner grew up near Bristol,

England and was a

 successful amateur cyclist in England before emigrating to

Vancouver,

 British Columbia. A dental surgeon by profession, Sumner

was an

 accomplished writer, and frequently contributed to cycling

magazines -

 starting with Sporting Cyclist in the 1960s, through to

VeloNews in recent

 years.



             Sumner raced extensively, competed for Canada

at the 1974

 world's in Montreal, and won a national masters road title

at age 58. He

 was a founding member of the Bicycling Association of

British Columbia

 (now Cycling B.C.), sat on various national and regional

committees, and

 was a respected coach. He was most recently a team

official for the

 Canadian national team at the road world's in Plouay,

France.