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Coast to Coast cyclist died after crashing into wall on Wrynose Pass descent, inquest hearsWrynose Pass (licensed CC BY SA 2.0 by Chris Downer on geograph.org_.uk)

Coast to Coast cyclist died after crashing into wall on Wrynose Pass descent, inquest hears

Coroner concludes that Katherine Moore lost control of her bike during sportive
by Simon_MacMichael
Thu, Dec 12, 2019 17:57
5

A coroner has concluded that a cyclist who died when she crashed into a wall while descending the Wrynose Pass during the Coast to Coast in a Day sportive earlier this year had lost control of her bike.

Katherine Moore, aged 56 and from Harrow in north west London, regularly rode sportives with her husband Anthony, reports NWEMail.com.

The inquest at Kendal’s County Hall was told that Mrs Moore crashed on a steep part of the descent, near Ambleside in the Lake District, during the event in June.

She was found with severe injuries close to a stone wall on a bend on the road by another cyclist whom she had passed shortly beforehand before crashing shortly after 9am.

Crew from the North West Air Ambulance attended the scene but because of the challenging terrain the helicopter had to land some distance away.

Mrs Moore, who had sustained injuries including a fractured skull and broken ribs, was pronounced dead at the scene despite the efforts of medical personnel to save her.

The event in which she had been participating began at Seascale in West Cumbria, with riders heading across the Coast to Coast route to Whitby in North Yorkshire.

Assistant coroner Craig Smith offered his sympathy to Mrs Moore’s family as he returned a finding of accidental death, concluding that she had sustained fatal injuries after colliding with the stone wall.

Last Sunday, the More4 television show Emergency Helicopter Medics featured an incident that also took place this year on the nearby Hardknott Pass, when a cyclist taking part in the Fred Whitton Challenge crashed.

> Cyclist recalls moment her brakes failed on Hardknott Pass descent during Fred Whitton Challenge

Vivienne Sherry, from Preston, fortunately escaped with nothing worse than cuts and bruises after crashing on the descent.

Wrynose Pass
Coast To Coast In A Day
Simon MacMichael

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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5 comments

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bechdan | 4 years ago
0 likes

A sad accident, but an accident nevertheless, nobody to blame

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Kestevan | 4 years ago
2 likes

A tragic loss. Condolences to her friends and family.

As above I've ridden this event several times, including this year and the descent of Wrynose is probably the mosty technical part of the route. The Hardknot descent is stupidly steep and it's hard to build up any real speed as you pretty much need to be on the brakes all the way down. 

Wrynose on the other hand fools you into thinking you can let rip, and it's very easy to build up a lot of speed, at which point any mistake or mechanical will not end well with the unforgiving nature of the bends and stone walls. I think it catches out a lot of riders, especially those from flatter areas, who are perhaps less experienced at handling very steep, very long technical descents at high speed. This is perhaps made worse in a sportive environment when the temptation to push the limits is involved.

 This is not blaming the rider in any way - I have no idea what the circumstances of the crash were and I have nothing but sympathy for her family. 

 

 

Avatar
Trickytree1984 | 4 years ago
1 like

Very very sad.

I did this sportive this year but was through this point at 7am. I must say this decent is terrifying. It was 20c dry and clear, basically perfect conditions. However even with a disc brake bike, the brakes were hard on for the whole decent. Very hard to keep the bike under control and the hand hurt by the bottom. A few people cooked their brakes.

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CyclingInBeastMode | 4 years ago
0 likes

desperately sad, condolances to family and friends.

However, the ride organisers stated that there was a first aid person there within 5 minutes of her being found, the comment made about the air ambulance landing some distance away (due to terrain) comes across as this having an influence on the outcome, bit of poor form.

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to CyclingInBeastMode | 4 years ago
2 likes

CyclingInBeastMode wrote:

desperately sad, condolances to family and friends.

However, the ride organisers stated that there was a first aid person there within 5 minutes of her being found, the comment made about the air ambulance landing some distance away (due to terrain) comes across as this having an influence on the outcome, bit of poor form.

I suspect the coroner is just reporting it as is. If he thought it was contributing, he would have mentioned but he just has to state facts for any possible further legal proceedings.

I doubt the poor first aider would be able to sufficient treat the type of injuries presented either unfortunately for that person and I hope mentally they are recovered and well.  

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