Aspen man dies after bike crash on Castle Creek Road
Sheriff’s Office says no car or criminal action involved in death of Gideon Isaac Kaufman
Aspen’s Gideon Isaac Kaufman, 77, died on Sunday morning following a bike crash about 9 miles up Castle Creek Road, just outside of Aspen.
The death was ruled a single bicycle crash and the cause of death was blunt force trauma, the Pitkin County Coroner’s Office said in a press release.
“And the manner of death is accident,” the release states.
A member of the public notified dispatch of the bike crash through a text at 11:04 a.m. Sunday morning, according to Parker Lathrop, Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy of operations. Responders arrived on scene, 9370 Castle Creek Road, at around 11:15 a.m., and the biker was driven toward Aspen Valley Hospital at 11:24 a.m.
Though not certain, Lathrop said the biker was “probably not deceased on scene” as Aspen Ambulance in general only transports individuals who are still alive.
Lathrop did not know the cause of the accident, though said the Sheriff’s Office stopped investigating the incident once it determined the crash did not involve anything criminal in nature.
“At this time there’s nothing to lead us to believe that there was any sort of car involved,” he said.
Aspen saw dry conditions and temperatures around 55 degrees Fahrenheit near 11 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
This is the second biking-related death on Castle Creek Road in the past two months.
Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.
