A BALLARAT cyclist has died after his bike and a car collided near Geelong yesterday.Paramedics treated the rider, 53, of Lake Wendouree, at the scene but were unable to revive him.The mother of killed Ballarat cyclist Amy Gillett choked back tears yesterday when she heard the news as her daughter's tribute event was being held nearby.The accident at Drysdale happened just kilometres from the route taken by almost 3000 cyclists in the sixth annual Amy's Ride.The news of the death ripped through the cycling community as so many of them gathered in the Geelong region yesterday for Amy's Ride and the Jayco Cycling Classic.Leading Senior Constable Jason Williamson, of Geelong Highway Patrol, said the man was riding west along Murradoc Road, near Clarendon Road, about 9.20am when he and a Honda CRV collided.Witnesses told police the Honda, driven by a 27-year-old Point Lonsdale woman, was travelling in the same direction as the cyclist when the collision occurred."Our investigations are ongoing. She (the driver) was extremely traumatised but drugs and alcohol were not a factor," Sen Const Williamson said.The man was not taking part in the Amy's Ride when the incident occurred.The annual cycling event is held to promote awareness of safe and responsible road use and raise funds for the Amy Gillett Foundation, which was set up after Gillett was hit and killed by a car while cycling in Germany in 2005.Her mother Mary Safe, who was in the region yesterday for Amy's Ride, wiped tears from her face when she heard of another rider being killed."I feel shocked to hear someone lost their life on the road and I understand the grief that the family will now have to deal with, it's just unnecessary," Mrs Safe said."It reinforces why we need to share the road. We just all need to slow down. Cars don't kill cyclists, drivers do."Australian sprint king Robbie McEwen, a winner of 12 stages in the Tour De France, said he was deeply saddened by the news."That's the news that nobody wants to hear about anybody," he said."It really hits home when you think about your own own situation and not coming back to your family."That's what makes it so shocking and such a tragedy."