The "Share the Road" sign on Boalsburg Road at first seems unremarkable -- but then a white bike on the hill appears, resting on a cross.

About 50 family members, friends, colleagues and supporters rode yesterday afternoon to the spot where Penn State mechanical engineering professor Bohdan Kulakowski was fatally hit March 22, 2006, by a van as he rode along the shoulder of Boalsburg Road.

Many people set flowers on the white bike, placed at the scene in Kulakowski's memory. They also reflected on Kulakowski's life and impact on the community.

"His death was a tragic loss to the community," said Paul Simpson, who organized the ride. "We haven't come anywhere near recovering, and I don't think we ever will recover from his loss."

Some attendees said they came because they knew Kulakowski. Others said they came to show solidarity with the biking community and urge motorists to be aware of bicyclists. One biker wore a T-shirt that read "Share the Road."

Angela Larson (graduate-geosciences) said she came to "support a fellow biker."

"Nothing will ever make up for the lost life," she said.

The ride began at the Allen Street Gates, went through campus and downtown State College and then onto Route 322 out to the accident site, following a route Kulakowski sometimes used when commuting from campus.

Riders also discussed the upcoming hearing for Thomas Fry, who police said was driving the van that hit Kulakowski. Fry, 51, is charged with homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, reckless and careless driving and disregarding a traffic lane.

Doctors who testified at his preliminary hearing said Fry has a degenerative eye disease and should not have been driving. Fry's attorney, Ron McGlaughlin, has argued that no one told his client not to drive.

Fry tentatively accepted a plea bargain last month, and Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira said last week that Fry is expected to enter a guilty plea tomorrow.

Madeira has refused to release the details of the plea bargain, but Dorota Smith, Kulakowski's daughter, said Assistant District Attorney Steve Sloane had told her that the tentative agreement included nine months of house arrest and no jail time.

Kulakowski's supporters say that sentence would be too lax, and some have written letters to the Centre County Court and to the district attorney's office supporting Kulakowski and protesting the plea agreement.

Victim advocate Susan Steinberg said she had received 37 such letters so far.

Madeira has said he was constrained by the standard three- to 12-month sentence for Fry's charges.

Steinberg said the judge would not make a decision about whether to accept the plea agreement tomorrow. She said Fry will enter a plea, and the judge will ask a probation officer to prepare a report on Kulakowski. She said the report could take more than a month to produce.

The judge will review the report and letters from Kulakowski's and Fry's supporters and then make a decision about whether to accept the agreement, she said.

Smith and Simpson said they both planned to be present at the hearing. Simpson said he would also e-mail the Centre Region Bicycle Coalition to inform them of the hearing.

However, Steinberg said Kulakowski's supporters will probably not speak at the meeting because the judge will rely on the written letters when making a decision.

The hearing will be held at 9 a.m. tomorrow in courtroom one at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.