Victim was experienced biker
Family has asked all donations to go to mountain-biking group
The mountain biker who died from his injuries while on a trail in West Vancouver has been identified.
Jonathan Tobias Pilley died May 7 from serious injuries while riding with friends on a trail known as The Coiler on Cypress Mountain.
Pilley, 43, who lived in Vancouver, was riding down the trail and suffered massive chest injuries when he lost control and hit a tree after landing a jump. Emergency workers were quickly on the scene, and Pilley was transferred to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
His family has asked all donations in his honour be sent to the North Shore Mountain Bike Association.
“We are having a difficult time,” said Pelley’s mother Judith on Sunday. “Social media has gone wild over this.”
She said her son worked hard to promote the sport of mountain biking. He was also an active skier and kayaker.
According to the West Vancouver Police Department, Pilley was with two friends on Cypress the day of the fatal crash. Pelley, by all accounts, was a very experienced mountain biker and familiar with the Cypress Mountain trails.
At the time of the accident he was wearing a full-faced helmet, goggles, body armour and gloves.
Pelley was attempting a jump in steep terrain when the accident happened.
The jump is a wooden ladder bridge that sends the rider over a log with the landing about 1.8-metres down and three-metres away from the takeoff point.
Upon landing, Pelley was thrown over the handlebars of the bike and then collided with a tree, resulting in blunt-force trauma.
Mark Wood, North Shore Mountain Bike Association program director, said they believe this is the first death ever from a mountain-bike injury on the North Shore.
“Everybody is looking at this as a real freak incident,” he said.