A seasoned motorcycle racer from Centennial plunged to his death while practicing for The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, casting a pall over the annual race for a second straight year.

Carl Sorensen, a 39-year-old father of one, went off a cliff during Thursday morning’s final practice run along a 3-mile stretch before the summit. A motorcycle racer for about 10 years, Sorensen had been hired to race a Ducati this year.

– Timeline: Fatalities of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb –

He competed in the race twice before and honed his skills competing every few weeks in an amateur motorcycle league, where he was a tech inspector – ensuring that motorcycles were fit to race.

“The man lived on the edge, and he put his total focus at this time into racing,” said his father, Daniel Sorensen. “And he was very good at it.

“He was just over 10 minutes, and 10 minutes was his goal – to break the 10-minute barrier.”

– Hill Climb, community leads forced to move on quickly after tragedy –

His death cast a shadow on the 93rd running of the race and marked the second time in as many years that a motorcyclist died on the peak.

Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers called Sorensen’s death “a great tragedy,” and he joined race organizers and top drivers in a moment of silence in the event’s hall of fame.

The crash brought Thursday’s practice sessions to an abrupt end, but races would go on as scheduled.

– Some reactions from fatal crash on Pikes Peak –

Minutes after offering their condolences, race officials moved ahead with pre-race activities, and racers who had gathered for media day events talked about the risks of racing.

Lamenting “a very sad day,” Tom Osborne, the Hill Climb’s board chairman, said he spoke to Sorensen’s wife.

“If there was ever a way to go, this is how Carl would want to go,” Osborne recalled her saying.

– Motorcycles present greater risk and haven’t always been part of Hill Climb –

Mitch Snow, a race spokesman, gave no details of the crash, saying that information “will come out when the timing’s right.”

Other racers recalled seeing Sorensen – who always wore number 217 for his Feb. 17 birthday – start the run but never reach the top.

He apparently had just told pit crew members that his motorcycle was “running great” during his first two practice runs; he crashed on a turn while making one last run at the summit, said Daniel Sorensen, who learned details from another son’s conversation with crew members.

– Hill Climb drivers reveal rough road conditions in area of fatal crash –

Other racers said sections of the road between Boulder Park and Cog Cut are unforgiving and in rough shape, laden with places where the pavement compressed and settled. Some have described it as somewhat akin to a washboard.

Carl Sorensen knew the risks of racing – having broken bones during crashes in other races. But he always passed the test on Pikes Peak, Daniel Sorensen said.

He returned to his motorcycle after every spill to feed a deep, visceral passion for the sport.

– Airstrip Attack drivers always have safety on their minds –

Carl Sorensen hated winter and always spent those months aching to race again.

“I was worried every time he went to the track,” Daniel Sorensen said.

He also was a gifted handyman and a talented mechanic and put those skills to work on motorcycles and as a mechanic for a Denver-area sanitation district.

Most of all, he loved anything that gave him a thrill – be it skateboarding, snowboarding or a souped-up motorcycle, Daniel Sorensen said.

“I had to buy him a new skateboard every week because he’d totally destroy it,” Daniel Sorensen said. “And he’d wear out a pair of tennis shoes in like three days.”

Top drivers acknowledged the risk that the race carries while vowing to press on Thursday.

A Hill Climb racer 19 of the past 20 years, Mike Ryan said he knew the feeling of losing control on the mountain. Twice – once in 2002 and again last year – he barreled off the Pikes Peak Highway, most recently while racing in a semi truck.

Just below an old ski area, he flew 200 feet off the road and 40 feet down the mountain, taking out 20 to 30 pine trees along the way. The truck didn’t roll, and he escaped relatively unscathed.

Practicing along that turn again this week, he said memories of that crash came racing back.

But grappling with those dangers is an inherent part of racing.

“I don’t know if it gives me second thoughts because I’m always contemplating the consequences,” he said.

–

Gazette reporter Aaron Reiss contributed to this report.