No one who knew John H. Bonbright was the least surprised that the 87-year-old was on his bicycle on the day he died.

"He would have been on his bicycle when he was 97," his son, Dr. Tom Bonbright, said this week.

Mr. Bonbright was crossing East Alameda Avenue at Newport Street last week when he was hit by a motorcycle driven by 21- year-old Bulhan Abdulahi, who was going west on Alameda. Both men were thrown off their bikes, got tangled and slid together down Alameda.

Mr. Bonbright died from his injuries. Abdulahi, who has been charged with reckless driving resulting in death, is in intensive care at a local hospital.

"He rode his bicycle everywhere," Bonbright, a dentist, said of his father, who also was a dentist. "I can safely say he was jogging before people knew what the word jogging meant."

Mr. Bonbright was born June 27, 1921, and grew up in St. Paul, Minn. He served in the Army, then earned a dental degree from the University of Minnesota in 1945, his son said.

"He practiced a few years in St. Paul, and with the Air Force," Bonbright said. "We were in Tripoli, Libya, Mobile, Ala. . . . we finally, thank goodness, decided to move to Denver in 1955."

There, Mr. Bonbright stayed, starting a practice that his son continues today.

"He was a neat guy," Tom Bonbright said. "He taught me a lot of stuff. Not so much technique as integrity and honesty and helping people . . . doing no harm.

"He was the kind of guy who never carried a daytimer. He remembered all of his to-do lists and everything."

Mr. Bonbright's main duties lately had been taking care of his wife, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, and his death will leave a big void in her care.

Mr. Bonbright's son said it doesn't do any good to be bitter about the accident or the driver of the motorcycle.

"As far as I know, he's a young guy, 21, God help him, going somewhat too fast, but not outrageously fast," Bonbright said.

"He was in the middle lane. Dad saw him at the last second. Dad dug in to try to make it across."

The motorcyclist apparently thought Mr. Bonbright was going to stop, so went left, rather than right, to try to avoid him, and the collision happened.

"It was an accident, that's all there is to it," Bonbright said, noting his dad had crossed that same street hundreds of times on his bicycle. "It doesn't do any good to be bitter. It's not as if the guy was intoxicated."

Mr. Bonbright "loved to fly airplanes, he loved to play golf, go skiing, bicycling," his son said.

Mr. Bonbright had another accident 17 years ago when he was hit by a car, which "changed his life," making it impossible to continue his daily runs, Bonbright said.

He had retired from dentistry 20 years ago, but continued to go to the office several times a month to do denture work, his son said.

"I liked being able to bounce ideas off of him, just talking to him," he said. "He had this one-liner wit - the guy had a great sense of humor."

Mr. Bonbright had four sons, three of whom survive. The others are Bob, of St. George, Utah, and Bill, who lives in Houston. He also is survived by his wife, Joan, of Denver, two sisters and numerous grandchildren.