A Sherbrooke man has died from injuries suffered while on a biking expedition at Jay Peak in Vermont.
Ghislain Lamontagne, 59, was part of the Club Cycliste de Sherbrooke group that was at the popular mountain-biking attraction when disaster struck. The fall occurred on route 242 during a 6 km descent being done by a large group of 70 cyclists this past Saturday.
The cause of the fall is still unknown.
Jean Pinard, who was part of the group with Lamontagne, explains: “Nobody saw what happened. The cyclist that was following Ghislain had him in his view, but then lost sight of him around a curve. When he came around, Ghislain was on the ground. A car arrived at the same time and called an ambulance right away. The ambulance arrived extremely fast.”
Lamontagne died from his injuries while being moved by helicopter between a Burlington hospital and one in Lebanon, New Hampshire. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of his fall, but an accident with another vehicle is not suspected. Lamontagne’s bicycle suffered practically no damage as a result of the fall.
“Lots of things could have happened,” said Pinard. “An animal could have ran across his path, he could have been surprised by a crack or a bump in the road, we don’t really know.”
Lamontage joined the cycling club last year and had logged some 3800 kilometres since the start of this season. On Saturday the club left from Sutton towards Richford and Montgomery, to finish at Jay Peak. Part of the ride included a 10 kilometre uphill climb.
“After the climb, we stopped to rest and eat. I took the opportunity to remind everyone to keep a distance of 50 to 100 metres to be on the safe side during the descent,” said Pinard.
Pinard was riding ahead of Lamontagne when the accident occurred. When he and some other riders arrived at the bottom and realized that the rest of the group wasn’t following them, Pinard figured something was wrong.
“When we climbed back up, we were passed by an ambulance that already had Ghislain on it,” said Pinard.
The members of the Sherbrooke Cycling Club are still in shock, but still plan to take part in the rest of their scheduled rides for the season.

By Doug McCooeye

2009-08-20