# Another death on a decent



## heythorp (Feb 17, 2005)

There is an extreme event I had not heard about called the Climb to Kaiser. 

A cyclist lost control on a decent and hit a tree. The second death in events history. Almost in the same spot.

Bicyclist in Calif. Climb to Kaiser ride dies - Yahoo! News


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

> There is an extreme event I had not heard about called the Climb to Kaiser.


 It's pretty well known amongst endurance cyclist. Ratpick just did it.

RIP Nicola.


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## CoLiKe20 (Jan 30, 2006)

yeah. this is a pretty well known ride.
I was there in 03. Remember it like yesterday: rider lost control and went over the median resulting in a head on with oncoming car. We rode by the accident just minutes later when the ambulance arrived. Didn't know what had happened until days later (all we did after the ride was watching the TdF coverage: Armstrong secured the win when Ulrich crashed in a wet ITT).
Did the ride a couple more years but don't really like the heat.


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## ratpick (Jul 31, 2008)

Yep.. ElHombre and I did C2K this weekend. We were climbing up the next climb when we heard all the sirens in the valley below and figured someone had gone down about 15-20 minutes behind us.

I know exactly which section of road he died on - it was very fun, twisty descent with a couple of hidden, very sharp turns (reminded me of Kings Mtn Rd). I was on a huge high after that descent not only because I'd gone pretty fast down it, but because I'd injected enough caution on an unknown road to safely get around the dangerous corners.

At the end of the ride, the TV trucks were out and reporters swarming around looking for anyone who saw anything. 

There have been 2 deaths on C2K in its 36 year history, both (I believe) on this one section of road. I don't hold the promoters responsible at all but it wouldn't hurt to post an obvious warning sign at the top. 

The ride itself was incredible - if you like climbing you *must *do it - it's completely different to anything else.


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## Elhombre (Jun 14, 2010)

A sad day for the fallen rider and his family, and a sobering reminder for the rest of us to be careful out there...

Most of the descents were fairly straightforward/non-technical I thought - to put in it in perspective, IMO the Page Mill descent is a lot more technical than any of the terrain we rode in C2K. The Big Creek descent, where the accident happened, alternates between very fast stretches and a few tight corners (road surface was generally good). Maybe that is why it is tricky and a bit treacherous.

But as ratpick said, it is a great ride and we had a great day; it is quite unusual to ride from sea level to +9,000 ft in one session.

@ratpick: I read that they diverted the riders well behind the accident scene to a Tamarack out-and-back or something alike, which explains why we saw all those riders climbing up.


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## MCubed (Jul 2, 2012)

Yeah, the death toll in N.Cal is pretty crazy. In pressdemocrat.com, they quoted about 66 deaths in the past 8 wks (if I remember correctly).


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## Rhymenocerus (Jul 17, 2010)

I know how to avoid these deaths, DESCEND WITHIN YOUR LIMITS!

Arent familiar with the road? Dont go over 30. Problem Solved.


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