A course record was set during the 30th annual LOTOJA Classic bicycle race on Saturday, but the death of a rider has put a damper on the race.

Just eight miles from the finish line in Teton Village, Wyo., Robert Verhaaren went over a railing on a bridge and fell an estimated 35 feet into the Snake River, where the water was between 12 and 15 inches high.

The 42-year-old from Mesa, Ariz., died shortly after the accident.

“We’re still talking about what could have happened, what caused this,” said Dave Bern, the communications director for LoToJa. “Any number of things could have caused it. We do know he was in the third position, riding with two other cyclists. All the sudden they heard a sound, turned around and Rob was gone.”

Authorities say Verhaaren swerved to avoid a pothole and crashed on U.S. Highway 89 at about 3:15 p.m. Bern, who has visited the site several times including Monday, doesn’t think a pothole was involved.

“I think it was something else, not a pothole,” Bern said. “It’s very possible Rob was just super tired and something happened. At that point in LoToJa, you are cooked, you are tired.... All you are focused on is getting to the finish line.... Anything could have happened at that moment. Who knows?”

The railing at the point where Verhaaren went over is “very low,” according to Bern. He estimated the railing at 35 inches. There is just a curb and then the railing, with no sidewalk. A tall cyclist could easily go over if they were really close, Bern said.

The annual race begins in Logan, Utah, and finishes just west of Jackson Hole, Wyo. The current course is 206 miles long. This is the first-ever fatality in 30 years of LoToJa.

“Let me put it this way: It has been chaos and a nightmare,” Bern said. “This breaks our hearts, and we can’t get it out of our heads. It’s going to take some time.”

There were four other accidents Saturday, two of which were serious enough to need extra medical treatment.

Doug Cottle, who is from the Ogden, Utah, area, crashed during the descent of Immigration Canyon near Montpelier and was airlifted to a regional hospital, but it is still not clear which hospital.

“We have been told that Doug went down head first after the Strawberry Summit,” Bern said. “He broke facial bones and has had brain swelling. We have been told by doctors that he is expected to recover.”

The other accident happened just past Alpine Junction in Wyoming. Anthony Quinn of Salt Lake City was put on a stretcher and taken to an area hospital. Few details beyond that were available Monday.

Accidents are a part of the long, grueling race.

“We’ve always had accidents,” Bern said. “You will have broken collarbones, lacerations, bruises. Things happen. People that are into cycling understand this is part of it. It’s not risk-free.”

Also, just north of Logan, at least 100 bicyclists had flat tires due to goathead thorns on the roadway.

Cyclists who have ridden in the race, including Bern, have thought if there ever was a serious accident, it would have involved a vehicle — since the riders share the road for a good part of the race. Some are calling the Verhaaren crash a “freak accident.” Road rash, a broken collarbone or another injury would have been most likely, but Verhaaren’s mishap happened at a bad location.

Bern estimated that, over the past 12 years of the race, there have been between 15,000 and 18,000 cyclists who have crossed that bridge.

“The bridge is about two miles north of Hoback Junction, and sometimes you don’t even notice it is there,” Bern said. “We have had no problems at this bridge in the past.”

Verhaaren had ridden LoToJa at least two previous times.

One rider called the tragedy a “very, very sad day for cycling and LoToJa.”

LoToJa is in the process of establishing a memorial fund for the family of Verhaaren. More information will be posted online at www.lotojaclassic.com today or Wednesday.