OGDEN — A retired dentist has succumbed to injuries received during the LOTOJA bicycle race in September.
Douglas Cottle, 62, died Saturday from a brain injury received on the morning of Sept. 8 during the race from Logan to Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Cottle fractured his face and the tip of a finger during the race, near Strawberry Canyon, and was treated at the intensive care unit of McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden.
Cottle had competed in the 206-mile, one-day race nine times. He was one of about 1,500 cyclists this year.
“We are just heartbroken again at the loss of another member of LOTOJA family,” said LOTOJA spokesman Dave Bern.
Cottle is the second fatality from the race. Robert Verhaaren, 42, of Mesa, Ariz., died after falling about 35 feet from a bridge into the Snake River in Wyoming.
Officials said it is the first year that the race experienced a fatality since it started about three decades ago.
This year’s race had fewer accidents than in previous years, Bern said, but those that did occur were more severe.
Services for Douglas Cottle will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Rock Cliff Stake Center, 1000 Suncrest Drive, Ogden.
Comments