His family and friends were still trying to cope yesterday with the loss of the man they said loved nature and maintained a healthy, low-consumption lifestyle.

They were also trying to come to terms with why the driver who struck him would leave the scene of a fatal accident.

"Robert was a very healthy guy. He rode a bike not just to save money, because he believed in not using gas," his father, Jay Clay, said in a phone interview from his residence in Florida to The Maui News.

Robert Clay's girlfriend, Deena Ewins, said they opted to take their bicycles rather than drive to work on Wednesday.

"We left the car home on purpose that day," she said. "If we had a whole day where we didn't drive at all, we had this reward system, where we would put a gold star on the calendar."

Robert Clay, 46, died after he was struck by a vehicle on Kenolio Road as he tried to turn onto Kenolio from Alulike Street on his way home from work at about 8:15 p.m. Wednesday.

Maui police investigators said the vehicle that struck the bicyclist was recovered a few blocks away Thursday morning on Kaiola Place and has been impounded at the Wailuku Police Station. Police said the owner of the 2003 silver Honda Accord, identified as Steven Wright, has been questioned and the investigation is continuing.

Police said Clay was struck on his bicycle as he was making a left turn onto Kenolio Road, to head in the direction of Maalaea and his apartment at the Kihei Villages. He collided with a vehicle traveling toward Wailea on Kenolio Road. Traffic investigator Lawrence Becraft II said the car's windshield was damaged and the damages are consistent with a collision with a bicyclist. Clay was struck on the left side of his body.

Police are still asking witnesses to the accident to come forward. Those with information may call the Traffic Section at 808-270-6537 or the Communications Section at 808-244-6400.

Clay's family said he was a positive influence on them and on his community.

"He just loved nature and he loved his music," said his mother, Inge Clay. He had a "wonderful singing voice," she said. He played the guitar and could be both whimsical and intense.

"He was a very, very free spirit," Inge Clay said.

Ewins called him "an environmental activist . . He was very, very outspoken.

"He touched a lot of lives. He tried pushing for solar panels installed, wind power, all kinds of things."

"It makes me angry that somebody who would take my son's life and have so little human feeling that he could leave him not knowing how bad out he was and leaving him in the street and drive off," said Jay Clay. "I can't understand how somebody can do something like that."

Ewins said she "felt willing to forgive the driver . . Except that he left. He left the scene, that's what made me upset."

She said she and Clay left for work together on Wednesday from their Kihei Villages unit. He had job at the Ace Hardware shop in the Azeka Place Center while she would ride further down South Kihei Road to her job at Hawaiian Moons Natural Foods.

In their program for rewarding themselves for not using gas, they set a goal of 50 days. If they recorded 50 days that they did not drive, they rewarded themselves by going out to dinner.

Ewins said she and Clay moved from Seattle to Maui about 10 months ago, initially living in Paia before moving to Kihei.

Clay was looking to qualify to be a substitute teacher while working at Ace Hardware.

"He was a very, very hard worker," Ewins said. "I've never seen anybody that has strong beliefs in the environment and worked so hard."

She said he participated in protests at a World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle several years ago, during which he was illegally arrested. He was "interesting," she said. "He touched my life in really a deep way," she said.

She said Clay influenced her into getting more in touch with the environment, an attitude that inspired her to do a special acrylic panting.

Jay Clay said his son remained a positive influence on his 15-year-old daughter, Alexandra "Allie" Clay, who lives in Seattle. Allie went to nature camps and always likes to do nature rides when she is with her grandparents in Florida, he said.

"That was started by her dad," Jay Clay said.

Understanding his love of nature, the family hopes to scatter Robert Clay's remains on Maui. No matter it happens, they will miss him.

"We loved him very much," Jay Clay said.