Former State Employee Injured in Fairfield Bike Race Crash Dies from Wounds

By Bay City News Service

A former state government employee who was injured in a crash during a bicycle race in Fairfield on Saturday died Sunday at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.

The Solano County coroner's office identified him as 65-year-old Robb Deignan, of Sacramento. The coroner's office is conducting an autopsy today at the request of Fairfield police, Deputy Jackson Harris said.

Fairfield police said Deignan was participating in the annual 100-mile Foxy's Fall Century bike race through Napa and Solano counties Saturday.

He was descending Hilborn Road around 10:30 a.m. when he lost control of his bike and went down just before the Solano Foothills Boulevard intersection, police said.

Deignan was wearing a helmet but suffered serious head wounds because of his speed, police said. He died at about 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Harris said. Deignan was public affairs director for the California Department of General Services between 2000 and 2004, the department's current public affairs director Ken Hunt said.

"He was always focused on doing the right thing, even when people were not looking. He was the epitome of integrity, honesty and accuracy," Hunt said.

He had 15 years of experience in media relations and website development for the state Senate Democratic Caucus, and worked for 15 years as a radio and television reporter and anchor for KTXL-TV in Sacramento, according to his LinkedIn page.

He also was press secretary for former state Sen. John Garamendi in 1989. He most recently worked as a media consultant for the state Senate between 2006 and 2009. He described himself on LinkedIn as "semi-retired and hanging out with my dog 'Buddy' and cycling junkies until the economy turns around."