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Lake District cyclist killed after crashing on Honister Pass descent

Witness said brakes appeared to fail before fatal incident on Saturday

A cyclist has been killed after crashing while descending the Honister Pass in the Lake District on Saturday.

The victim, a male cyclist aged 27, was riding with a friend when he lost control of his bike, according to a post on Facebook by Kendal Mountain Rescue Team.

Conditions were said to be dry and sunny when the crash happened, with rescuers called to the scene at around midday.

Members of the Keswick Mountain Rescue Team were joined by personnel from the emergency services in the attempted rescue operation, but the cyclist died at the scene.

The Facebook post said that “Two passing off-duty medics immediately provided assistance and in a short time Cumbria Police, mountain rescue and air ambulance teams arrived and tried to resuscitate the casualty.”

“Sadly, and despite a sustained effort, nothing could be done to save him. Our thoughts and sympathies go out to the man’s family and friends.”

In response to the post, one Facebook user said: “My son and I were following them down the hill in our car when it looked like his brakes failed.

“The next few seconds will never leave me. We came across the accident a few seconds later and had to drive back up to the slate mine where we used their landline phone to dial 999.

“We did what we could by transferring information up and down the hill until help arrived,“ he added. “RIP.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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6 comments

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jollygoodvelo | 4 years ago
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Small sub-editing note: saying the cyclist was 'killed after crashing' implies that their demise was not inherently linked to the accident, that it was a separate act e.g. perhaps while lying in a prone state he was run over by a passing vehicle.  In this instance it sounds as if it would be better to state that they 'died after crashing'.

My condolences, of course, to the friends and family.

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nickW1 | 4 years ago
0 likes

terrible news I once had a wheel speed wobble coming down toys hill in kent during a sportive very frigthening, I was very lucky but downhill with no brakes really scary 

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Rik Mayals unde... | 4 years ago
5 likes

Terrible news. I hate descending any of the Lakeland passes. You have to be really hard on the brakes all the time. If you ease off the brakes for a few seconds, the speed runs away with you, and becomes dangerous. Honister and Wrynose by far the worst. 

Thoughts go to the family, so young, so sad.

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Zebulebu replied to Rik Mayals underpants | 4 years ago
3 likes

Agreed. The worst part of the Fred Whitton is the descending. It's horrible - not even remotely enjoyable

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KiwiMike replied to Zebulebu | 4 years ago
3 likes

Yep - descending passes in the Alps is fun because they're typically no more than 4-5%, most built on centuries-old horse-and-cart roads, or modern engineering to handle HGV's. Whereas the Lakes are basically paved goat tracks. Check your brakes people, hard, before every ride. 

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NZ Vegan Rider | 4 years ago
2 likes

That's terrible ;-(

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