Bicyclist, 42, dies during race from Utah to Wyoming
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A bicyclist competing in a race from Logan, Utah, to Jackson Hole, Wyo., crashed on a bridge in Wyoming and fell about 35 feet to his death into the Snake River.
Authorities say 42-year-old Robert Verhaaren, of Mesa, Ariz., was participating in the annual LOTOJA race when he swerved to avoid a pothole and crashed on Highway 89 about eight miles from the finish line Saturday afternoon.
Race spokesman Dave Bern says the 206-mile race also was marred by serious accidents in Idaho and Wyoming that sent two bicyclists to the hospital and by flat tires experienced by roughly 200 cyclists early on.
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He says it's the first fatality in the race's 30-year history.
It's billed as the longest one-day bicycle race in the country sanctioned by USA Cycling.