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Pikes Peak rider killed when his Triumph crashes after taking the checkered flag

Motorcycle rider was thrown from his bike near the summit

The crashed bike of #86 Bobby Goodin

The crashed bike of #86 Bobby Goodin

On his Facebook page, which is almost all motorcycle racing photos and posts, Bobby Goodin featured a poster of the late actor and rider Steve McQueen that contains this quote: "Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting."

After finishing third in his debut at the Pikes Peak Hillclimb in Colorado, Goodin waited a year to go back. Today he did, and it cost him his life.

Multiple sources have confirmed what Motorsport.com sadly reported hours earlier: Goodin, of Flower Mound Texas, a suburb of Dallas, died after crashing his motorcycle just as he was completing his run. He was airlifted to Penrose Main Hospital in nearby Colorado Springs, according to the El Paso County Sheriffs office.

Goodin, 54, was apparently slowing after the checkered flag at the summit when he lost control of his 2014 Triumph Daytona 675R. Paramedics gave him CPR immediately after the accident and did not stop until he was airlifted by Flight For Life medical response helicopter. One paramedic on the scene said he believed Goodin died instantly. Reportedly police quickly confiscated riders' and photographers' SD cards from cameras after the accident.

According to one account supplied exclusively to Motorsport.com: "He crossed the finish line and raised his arm in triumph. When he did this he crossed from pavement to dirt and the biked veered to the right and hit a boulder destroying the bike and launching him in the air where he tumbled multiple times hitting more boulders. When rescuers arrived he was face down and unresponsive. Safety workers performed CPR on him for about 30 minutes before the Flight for Life helicopter landed on the summit. He was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. I believe he officially finished 4th in his class." He had qualified his Triumph in sixth.

This was Goodin's second PPIHC, and he finished 3rd as a rookie in 1250 pro class in 2013 on an Aprilla.

Clearly, Goodin, an experienced rider well known in the Dallas-Fort worth biker community, knew the danger. He posted the following on Facebook in 2011: "Crashed motorcycle today and broke arm. A lady turned left right in front of me. Motorcycle is a complete total."

Counting Goodin, five people have died at the 92-year-old event. The last was race official Henry J. Bresciani, who was killed in 2005 after he was struck by a car during practice. Ralph Bruning, 31, was the last racer killed, when he had a crash in 2001 during practice when his car left the road and struck a tree. The last biker to die was in 1982, when Bill Gross was hit by another motorcycle after he fell from his bike.

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