The finish line is a place for triumph and celebration after a long-distance cycling race, but it was a confusing experience after this year's Okanagan Granfondo.

With one rider left dead and two others critically injured, the joy of even just finishing was mixed with knowledge of the tragedy on the course.

"It was hard to go through the awards ceremony without questioning if this is what we're supposed to be doing," rider Jonathan Balogh said.

The Kelowna resident finished the 155-kilometre course and many of his friends had placed high in the standings and while the celebration wasn't muted, it was overshadowed with talk of what happened and whether everyone they knew was safe. All his peers crossed the finish line on July 13.

"We had lots to celebrate and lots to be excited about, and more of our talk was of course centred on what happened," he said. "This is not a typical thing to happen in an event like this... You're not expecting a car to be involved in an event like this."

What happened isn't yet clear, but the crash on White Lake Road resulted in the death of one rider and serious injuries to two others. One, a Lower Mainland woman, is expected to need months of recovery after the collision with a car during the race. The other hasn't been identified.

Penticton RCMP have released very few details about the crash, but a spokesperson did confirm the driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with investigators. They didn't confirm whether alcohol was a factor.

Okanagan Granfondo executive director Jodi Cross said there's "lots to be sorted still" and didn't comment when reached by iNFOnews.ca on July 16.

The event hosts four different distances participants can ride, and the three longest courses all converge on White Lake Road less than three kilometres from the crash scene. It's a location event organizers warned riders to be wary of in advance, expecting more traffic and a few blind corners in the following stretch of road, according to a video posted in advance.

Nearing the end of the 155-kilometre South Okanagan course, an exhausted and cramped Balogh wasn't initially sure why volunteers were directing riders to dismount. Then he saw the crash scene.

He walked his bike on the left-side shoulder as he passed the spot where two ambulances, a fire truck and police vehicles had the road blocked. In a large cycling event like the Granfondo, a rider injured after slipping in gravel or hitting a pothole, or a pile-up, isn't uncommon. It became increasingly clear it was much worse.

"As we're walking through, I noticed things are oddly barricaded off and there's a lot of hushed chatter among the support people and medics," Balogh said. "There was a guy on the side of the road who looked very upset. There was someone, I believe a police officer, standing near by and he was looking forlornly into the forest. I assume that was the driver involved, but I'm still not thinking anything of this at this point."

Until he saw the car involved in the crash, he didn't consider just how devastating the crash might have been. While the riders walking by were "trying not to look," Balogh said they were growing more certain someone was killed, partly because police closed the entire scene to investigate.

When he saw the car involved in the crash, it became more clear just how serious it was.

"It had a badly cracked windshield. This was a glance up and back down as we walked by," he said. "Unfortunately, a windshield breakage like that involving a cyclist more than likely means it's a head-on."

He said the crash wasn't on a straight stretch.

"It was a slight gradual bend for a while. I wouldn't call it a blind corner, but it was enough of a bend that it's possible with inattention on either part you could wander for sure. It's not fully blind where you can't see a thing."

Once they passed the scene, riders mounted their bikes again for the less-than-20 kilometres left to the Penticton finish line.

"I was pretty out of it when we got to the scene. By the time we came out I was much more aware of my environment," he said. "I kind of snapped into attention because I was suddenly profoundly aware my fun little event, and my concerns about how I was doing and problems with my cramping, just paled in comparison to the tragedy that happened here on the course."

For road cyclists, always aware they don't stand a chance against a vehicle, large events like the Okanagan Granfondo are typically safer than solo or even small group rides. Balogh and fellow rider Dustin Quigley said event organizers appeared to have done everything right in terms of safety and traffic management.

"Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how safe I ride or the next person rides, we can't control every variable. We can't control what other cars are doing, and it's unfortunately part of the nature of these events," Quigley said.

Quigley has helped organize other races in Kelowna and said planning typically includes thorough engineering plans, approved by the local government. The Apple Triathlon, for example, would spend more than $200,000 on just traffic management.

They both said spending $250 to join the race comes with the expectation that traffic around the course is managed, but they wouldn't expect 155 kilometres of road to be entirely closed for cyclists. Balogh said the riders he was with at the finish line agreed the event organizers did "everything they could have" to minimize risks. Neither saw aggressive drivers or close calls with vehicles on the course.

"Anytime we're out there on the road, there's a certain amount of risk we know we're taking. When we're on our bikes in spandex versus a one- to two-tonne vehicle, we're going to lose every time," Quigley said.

The collision was just north of the St. Andrews golf resort on White Lake Road, which is rural and narrow, but Quigley said it's been used for years as part of the Granfondo and area triathlons.

"It's a part of the culture in the area. This has been happening so many years that everybody's used to it, and if anything I get more positive interactions. People will give you the light honk and wave or cheer as they go by," he said.

Quigley didn't see the collision or the aftermath as he was among the fastest riders in the event, but he said his heart sank on his way to the finish line as two ambulances passed him going the other way.

"It's the absolute last thing you ever want to hear about, even an incident happening, let alone when there's a fatality and the trauma around it," Quigley said.

While they both know riders who are hesitant to ride again, they agreed they intend to join the event again and others like it. Balogh said it's important to "keep the bicycle community alive and thriving" by supporting events like the Granfondo.

It's the second time in two years someone died on the course, but last year's was a medical event unlike the crash on July 13.

It also happened shortly after the province received its report on safety assessments for community events, spurred by the tragic Lapu Lapu Day street festival where 11 people were killed when a vehicle sped through. Whether the recommendations in the report and regulated assessments would have been helpful or effective in this scenario isn't clear.

"This incident is under investigation by the Penticton RCMP, and it is important that they complete their investigation before speculating about what lead to this tragedy," the BC public safety ministry said in a written statement.

The rider who died hasn't been identified, nor has one of the injured riders taken to hospital. Just one, Lower Mainland woman Karen Martens, has been identified. A friend launched an online fundraiser for her as she recovers from multiple serious injuries, including internal bleeding and a broken arm.

According to online court records, the driver has not been charged and it's not clear exactly how the collision happened. Quigley and Balogh said they and their fellow riders have speculated, but they so far have no clear answers.

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