Yep, the north bay stretch of highway 1 has a lot of hairy slow switchbacks that are very technical. The south bay is a cake walk comparativlely. The deceased rider just was speeding or was impaired, more than likely.
Speeding, impaired or intentional. We will never know. But having lived in CA for 20 years, we still loved the Highway 1 drive. Even when it made me a bit carsick. Beautiful road.