Less than two hours before he was the victim of a fatal bicycle crash Monday afternoon, Ever Portillo posted a Facebook video of the Amgen Tour of California riders racing down Quimby Road. “Woo hoo!’’ says a voice on the video, apparently Portillo. “You can smell the brakes!’’

After the race ended atop Metcalf Road in southeast San Jose, Portillo and a friend took on a piece of the tour’s route, traveling east on a rural stretch of Quimby rather than the race’s westward course. They headed down the narrow road at about 20 mph, hardly racing speed but fast enough.

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San Jose: Bicyclist killed in crash on Mount Hamilton On a right-banking downhill curve about three-quarters of a mile west of Mt. Hamilton Road, they encountered something that the pro riders don’t see: A Cal Fire truck lumbering uphill toward them at about the same speed. It was about 5:24 p.m.

While Portillo’s friend got past the truck, the California Highway Patrol has theorized that Portillo, 41, braked hard, went over the handlebars of his Volagi Viaje XL road bike, and hit his head on the roadway. He apparently came to rest near the truck, which also stopped abruptly.

I’m haunted by every bicycle fatality I cover. It reminds me of my devotion to the ancient Nishiki 10-speed that ferries me to work. A reader on an earlier story commented that rescuers recovered Portillo’s helmet, split in two, which raises a whole other set of questions.

But what strikes me most about the death of Ever Portillo — he also went by the name of Ever Portiz — is that it came just hours after the Amgen Tour of California passed through the same road in the opposite direction. In fact, it came on a day when the Tour saw an awful crash.

Not far from where Portillo filmed his Facebook video, Latvian rider Toms Skujins tumbled over his bicycle on a descent. With the help of a neutral motorbike rider, the staggered rider got back on his bike and continued. He was nearly hit by the peloton.

Later, Skujins was pulled from the race with a broken collarbone. He posted a picture of himself on Twitter — battered but smiling — with the words, “I would never suggest getting in a fight with tarmac because you will loose.’’ (sic).

You can offer advice after a fatality like Monday’s. It’s important for any car or bike to slow down around a corner that you cannot see clearly, particularly if you’re headed downhill.

It’s also true that such advice robs from the thrill of riding in the hills. You risk becoming a flat-earth bicyclist like me. (My most adventurous run was a 100-mile trip from Chico to Davis. Almost utterly flat, with very few trees.)

We know that Portillo was a solid and experienced bicyclist, a good man and husband well-respected by his peers. We also know that a descending road like Quimby can be harsh and unforgiving, particularly if you’re looking at a firetruck.

When I followed cycling more — before the doping scandals consumed Lance Armstrong and others — I was fascinated by the crackups that spilled through the peloton. Nobody seemed to die in these crashes: Avoiding them was part of the strategy.

I can’t think of them that way again, even if the pro riders have more protection than Ever Portillo ever did. Never get in a fight with the tarmac.