Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017 | 7:09 p.m.
A competitor who died in an off-road motorcycle crash last week during a race across the Nevada desert was mourned as a decorated war veteran and will be buried at Riverside National Cemetery in California, a race official said Thursday.
Christopher Carlisle, 39, was remembered Wednesday by friends and family during a ceremony at Joshua Springs Calvary Chapel in his hometown, Yucca Valley, California, said Donald Jackson, Best in the Desert race operations manager.
Carlisle was a father of three and a former U.S. Marine who served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Jackson said.
He was found fatally injured Aug. 18 after the solo crash about 290 miles into the 540-mile race from Beatty to Reno.
Carlisle was wearing a helmet and safety gear, Jackson said, but was pronounced dead of multiple injuries at a hospital in Hawthorne.
He became the first racer to die in the Best in the Desert event since 2008, Jackson said.
Jackson said 336 competitors using various off-road vehicles started the weekend race, and 204 finished.
Another competitor was seriously injured and remained hospitalized Thursday in Reno after crashing his four-wheel off-road vehicle about 258 miles into the race.
Alex Kollitz, 54, of Roseburg, Oregon, was flown by medical helicopter to Renown Regional Medical Center, Jackson said.
The Nevada Highway Patrol does not investigate off-road crashes, Trooper Jason Buratczuk said.
