Some unknowns now known

Just like the evening news I'll give you a teaser......"citations issued, stay tuned"

Today Dave and I re-road the 54 mile route a bunch of us rode for my birthday about a month ago. We did take a short detour to go scope out a bridge near Newberg to see if we could eliminate the dicey crossing of the Hwy 219 bridge that we often make. We found that it appeared to have been a highway bridge at one time, there was even a road alignment that seemed set to serve the bridge at one time. Today it carries a big pipe of some sort. No auto or pedestrian access.


We had a nice day to ride. There is rain predicted for this evening on into tomorrow but we didn't have a drop of rain during our entire ride. There was a brisk wind out of the NE (usually a sign of dry weather) the helped us along as we headed mostly south. We cut to the east on Waconda Rd and proceeded to Duck Inn Rd where we turned into the wind. It seemed to have shifted slightly, or weakened. Either way it wasn't hampering us too much as we pedaled into Gervais with a 17 mph average for the approximately 35 miles we had covered to that point.


We really began to feel that wind again with about 15-20 miles to go. We had hoped to hold that rather flashy for us 17 mph but the wind continued to push against us. We ended up the ride with a 16.7 mph average and 57 miles. It was a good ride. Tomorrow's 42 mile group ride out to Hagg Lake promises to be wet!

Okay, now the update on the situation. Today as I was loading my bike at the end of our ride I got a call from the responding officer, Officer Chris Helbling of the Marion County Sheriff's Office. He had me drive to Kaizer and meet with him. He was polite, shook my hand, and handed me a citation for violation of ORS 164.354, Criminal Mischief 2, base fine of $5000. He tells me that he's not at liberty to tell me what the guy who said he'd run me over, and then did, and then drove away was cited for.
I've got a court date about a month out in Salem.

I called the attorney I've been talking with and left a message giving him an update. I presume I'll have an appointment with him in the early part of next week.

Of course, updates as the occur.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today............57...............0.................57
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......614.....+.........0........=.......614
Year to date...1115.....+.........30.......=......1145
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Wheels of Justice

I just received a call from Lt Stai with the Marion County Sheriff's Office. He's the officer who contacted me wanting to be sure that his department was handling this ordeal properly.

I appreciate his call and the efforts he went to to look into this. He tells me that he has been in contact with the responding officer and was told that while the case details have not yet been filed with the DA that conversations have been held between the DA and the officer on how to proceed. The Lieutenant tells me that I should expect a call from the responding officer sometime by tomorrow afternoon.

I again questioned why when a driver has been located who admits to running into a person with his vehicle then driving away that he isn't cited immediately for what we call hit and run. I suppose that won't be answered to my satisfaction until later in this process.

Not that I condone this, but it was noted on a different forum that many of us have seen dash cam video taken from a police car that shows officers emptying the clips of their service weapons at the driver when a car accelerates towards them.

Perhaps if the officer where to think of this situation in those terms the wheels of justice would be moving a bit faster. It's been almost a week.

EVENING UPDATE:
I was doing a bit of web surfing tonight and ran across this YouTube clip. While Oregon does not have a 3 foot law, ORS does say that a driver must pass at a distance that would keep them from hitting a cyclist if they should fall. (seems a bit hard to quantify to me)

The last gasp of winter?

I have a meeting scheduled today in Salem beginning at 11AM. I had figured with that time it would be a good chance to ride the bike to Salem. There was a chance of snow predicted, but it's Oregon, a few flakes in the air was all I expected...if that. To my surprise this morning there were several inches of snow on the ground. I opted to drive to Salem.

During the last week it's been sunny with highs in the mid to upper 50's.... Spring will come eventually.

Saw an interesting tidbit on the news this morning. A bus driver being billed as a good Samaritan is cited by the police for jay walking.

One can certainly make the argument that he deserved the ticket.
One can also say that mitigating circumstances would indicate he shouldn't be cited.

Without getting into that argument what got my interest is this:

The police where called after the vehicle hit the pedestrains. The officers cited who they perceived as the offender.
When the SUV hit me and drove off (assault, hit and run) the police were called after the incident. Multiple witnesses back my claim that this guy did this intentionally. No one was ticketed. Even after the driver admits he was the one who hit me with his SUV there are no tickets issued. There may still be a citation issued but at this time it's unknown. Different states, different circumstances, but it just baffles me. LIke I said previously, the officer said he has chosen to handle this differently, I just hope differently works.

Mid week

I went for my 27 mile "hill ride" in the Logie Trail area......twice.
It was dry but windy. Nothing like a good workout in late February!
After the last few days of rain and sometimes torrential downpour, it was nice to not have to climb those hills in raingear. I finished up just before noon.

After grabbing a bite to eat I called the Marion County District Attorney's Office to see if paperwork has been filed yet. It hasn't been.
I then checked email and blog comments and found that a Lieutenant affiliated with the Marion County Sheriff's Office had asked me to contact him. I did so. He wants to be sure that their office is doing everything properly. Not that my personal satisfaction is a priority, but he does want to be sure that the public's safety is being properly addressed.

He was very professional, answered my questions, and tolerated my rants! ;-)
He asked me to restate what happened for him. I did so, and he said he'd talk to the responding officer and do some other inquiries and get back to me by 5PM Saturday with the status. I am willing to give him that time. Proper outcome, not speed, is the priority.



I am happy that this situation is being looked at. It's too easy to sit here and think nothing is being done.

I owe it to fellow cyclists (as well as the casual family on bikes) to see that people like this SUV driver are not threatening their lives.

I hope that guy isn't on the same road this weekend. The plan is for a bunch of us to be re-riding my 54 mile birthday ride route Saturday morning........ a route that takes us right over the same spot. I will certainly be hearing that guy's voice in my head..."If I ever see your a$$ on this road again I will run you over".

I'll be sure to have my helmet cam along this time!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today............54...............0.................54
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......557.....+.........0........=.......557
Year to date...1058.....+.........30.......=......1088
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

twiddling my thumbs

waiting for the wheels of justice to move.








(wonder if the owner of this shop has a story to tell?)

In the meantime I've been trying to plan my ride calendar. I usually ride many organized rides. I just find the company and different scenery to make these rides something to look forward to. If the ride is reasonably priced and/or raises money for a good cause....I'm there!

This year it seems that many of the rides that I've ridden in the past have been scheduled on competing days.

Examples:
(Links to all these rides are listed down the right side of this blog under "organized rides")

It started off with February;
The Wet and Windy 50 and Chilly Hilly were both on Feb 22nd.

In April it goes crazy;
The Monster Cookie Metric Century, The Port Townsend Rhody Tour, and The Cherry of a Ride are all on April 26th.

In May The 7 Hills of Kirkland, The Century Ride of the Centuries, and Lewis and Clark Ultra all happen at the same time.

I haven't checked the dates for mid to late summer rides yet, but I do know that STP and Race Across Oregon are on the same weekend.

How's a guy who wants to ride his bike supposed to decide?

Hmmmmmmmmmm.....maybe just pick the ones that don't have any blue SUV's registered in the area. ;-)

Raining and a bit blustery today. I'm scheduled to ride tomorrow so hopefully it improves a bit.

UPDATE: 4PM
I'm told that people like this often have a pattern of acting in this manner. If any of you have cycled in the Canby/Champoeg/St Paul area and been hassled in any way by a driver in a dark blue SUV (Dodge Durango, OR SDY 956) please let me know so that I may pass the information along to the attorney. I want this guy off the road and showing this is not a random fluke event will help to do that.

The first business day post incident

A quest for justice.

As you might imagine this morning has been very busy so far. The Marion County Sheriff's Office (while not writing any citations) will be forwarding witness statements to the District Attorney's Office this afternoon unless I accept the driver's offer or come up with a counter offer.

I did call the Marion County Sheriff and left a message for them to call me. I will ask that they delay any submission to the DA until late in the day or preferably tomorrow to allow me time to look at options with legal counsel.

My priorities are to have this driver learn that cyclists do have a right to use the roads and that he does not have the right to run them over with his vehicle. I want others of his same mindset to learn the same lesson.

How best to achieve those goals is the subject being discussed.

UPDATE: 11:25 AM

I dropped the damaged wheel off at my LBS. Mike thinks it's repairable. A few scratches on the aerobar and brake levers but I think they are cosmetic in nature.

Marion County Sheriff has not yet returned my call (4hrs and counting)

After discussing with an attorney the course of action will be to encourage Marion County Sheriff and the Marion County DA to take the appropriate action.
If they don't then other options can be looked at.

UPDATE: 1:25 PM

Marion County DA does not have the case filed yet. They tell me they can do nothing until the case is filed. I have continued to try to reach the responding officer to no avail. He may be in training they say. I've tried to leave a voice mail on the system but it keeps bumping me off.
I do have the number for Marion County's Victim Assistance program. They are open until 5PM today. If I haven't made any progress by then I'll be making a call to them.

UPDATE: 4:00 PM
Called Marion County Dispatch again trying to reach the responding officer. I was told he got the page and will be returning my call shortly.

UPDATE: 4:45 PM
The responding officer returned my call. I had two questions for him;
1) What is the timeline on this incident?
Officer responded that it would be to the DA in a few days.
2) Why was the driver who admitted being the one who hit me not cited for what we non-law people call hit and run?
Officer responded that he is choosing to not handle it this way.

Just the facts boys and girls. I can't offer an explanation.

That's probably the last update for today as the offices are all closing for the day.
Further updates will appear on the days they occur. This will undoubtedly go on for awhile. Rest assured cycling friends, I intend to stay the course. Thank you all for your words of encouragement and support via this blog, direct email, and posting to other listservs.

The day after......

The ankle is a bit swollen and sore, but the predicted rain was at bay, I swapped in my spare wheel and went for a ride. About 15 of us rode from Lakeside Bicycles in Lake Oswego today. The plan was for about 25 miles. We rode up the Clackamas River to Carver and on to Redland. Here's 3 of our group descending Redland Rd.


We ended up with 30 miles and a completely dry ride. :-) I went for a little post ride to log a few more miles while the weather was cooperating. I got another 8 in before the sky darkened and a few drops started falling. It wasn't too bad as the road never got wet. I stopped for a little lunch then finished up with 10 miles to add to the 30 with the group.

I visited with the staff at the bike shop. We talked about yesterday's incident. Reactions throughout the cycling community are predictable....and as far as I'm concerned, spot on.

As I am typing this I received a call from the Marion County Sheriff's Office. They have contacted the "gentleman" in the Blue Durango who intentionally ran over me. He's interested in just dropping the whole thing with each of us just moving on. Let bygones be bygones.

I'll bet he is.

Needless to say, I declined that offer.

Sheriff will forward witness statements to DA's office to determine if any charges will be filed. They say to expect nothing for about 2 weeks.

Citizen initiated citation anyone? :-O
1) Violation of ORS 811.705 (hit and run-Class C felony)

2) Violation of ORS 163.175(c) (second degree assault-Class B felony)

3) Violation of ORS 163.490 (menacing-Class A misdemeanor)

4) Violation of ORS 163.195 (reckless endangerment- Class A misdemeanor)

5) Violation of ORS 811.140 (reckless driving-Class A misdemeanor)

Oh, and the whole issue of me being defined as a "vulnerable highway user" may or may not apply.

I'm absolutely sure there are many more violations to be found given a little time.

Maybe I should offer this:
Surrender Oregon Driver's License for 1 year, not to be reinstated without retesting.
Donate $10,000 to the Bicycle Transportation Alliance
Attend a bicycling rights class sponsored by the BTA
Write a letter to the editor to be published in the Oregonian outlining what bicyclists rights are, and how he violated them.

Updates as they happen.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today............40...............0.................40
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......503.....+.........0........=.......503
Year to date...1004.....+.........30.......=......1034
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

How did your ride go?

Mine ended up like this:


ahem..... calm down......... okay, it went like this.
I joined Dave, Elise, Art, and Luis for what should have been a very nice day to ride a bike.
We were riding right on the fogline (near Champoeg State Park, no paved shoulder beyond this at that point) about 2.5 miles into our planned 35 mile ride. Along comes this neanderthal in a dark blue Dodge Durango, Oregon License plate # YDS 956 who thinks he owns (in his words) the whole F&$%&ing road. He lays on the horn continuously as he passes within 2 feet of us in an attempt to brush us off the road. I was the lead rider and I motioned him back (with ALL my fingers) in an attempt to discuss his behavior and why he felt the need to do that. To my surprise he was in such a hurry to have that discussion that he made voluminous smoke from his tires as he backed up the 70 yds to talk.

The idiot said we had no right to be on HIS f#$%$ing road. I informed him that indeed we did, and that in fact we were tight against the right side, where we certainly had the right to be. He said if he ever saw me there again, he'd run me over.

I took exception to his threat,(okay, full disclosure, I did so by whacking his passenger mirror with my hand while saying to the effect of "well then he'd need to talk to the police". I was thinking it was a good way to insure they'd be involved. No broken glass or other obvious damage, but I did not inspect it closely.) He showed me that his threat was serious. As I was walking away he put the vehicle in reverse, turned the wheels towards me, put it in forward, and gunned it. Yup, this moron hit me, knocked me and my bike to the ground, damaged my front wheel in the process, a few scratches on aerobar, brake lever, and handlebar tape, and an injured ankle. I'm beginning to lose my faith in drivers.

We noted the license number and immediately called 911. The very polite, though possbily bicycle law ignorant, Marion County Sheriff came out and interviewed us.
The officer said there are always two sides to a story. I agreed but pointed out that I had 4 cycling witnesses as well as the owner of the home the incident happened in front of.

No matter what may or may not have been said (always two sides to a story) he USED HIS VEHICLE AS A WEAPON AGAINST ME.

Yup, an update will follow as this plays out.


Other than that it was a good ride. This was one of the "training series" rides I lead for a social bike group I belong to. The participants are showing great progress and I am very proud of them. The group averaged over 16 mph for today's ride, and by most accounts it wasn't too hard for anyone.

I did a little pre-ride after fiddling with glove issues that cost me the time required to "ride to the ride". I ended up with 9 miles pre-ride to add to the 35 group ride.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today............44...............0.................44
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......463.....+.........0........=.......463
Year to date....964.....+.........30.......=.......964
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I guess that's why this is called............

"Bike Dreams"

The days have been just glorious for riding. I haven't been out much because of those darn "life issues" getting in the way. I've been day dreaming bikes though. There is that whole issue of planning for the upcoming Furnace Creek 508 adventure. There is also the reminiscing over last summer's Race Across Oregon where my teammates and I set a divisional course record riding as the "Old Goats 4 CycleOne" 4 man over 50 team. The team won't be reforming for a run at defending our title. I've moved on to a solo entry in the Furnace Creek 508 (as was my plan all along). J Murray has retired from racing Ultra Cycling events. (as was his plan all along) Cary hasn't announced that he'll be riding RAO. J Michael will be riding the `09 RAO as part of the Three Rivers Racing team. It might have been fun to go back as the defending champs and see what these old goats could do, but it's not to be.

I will remedying my non riding ways over the weekend as I have rides planned both days. Tonight I've got my "Bike Dreams" in full throttle. I lead a 35 mile ride for my social bike group tomorrow. 35 miles is not many miles for me so I'm going to ride to the ride (earning points from my Rando buddies in the process) The only thing left to be decided is whether to ride from home, a 35 mile ride, which would give me about 105 for the day, or whether to start from Newberg, giving me 55 for the day. I wouldn't mind the 105 miles, but there will likely be a "post social ride social" that may get me too late for comfort, as well as add 11-12 miles onto the 105. I'm not all that enthused about riding at night if I don't need to, and the trip across the Hwy 219 bridge south of Newberg is dicey even in daylight, let alone in darkness. I may just go from Newberg then do a bit of post social ride riding to bring my distance up a bit.

Sunday I am riding with a group of folks from Lake Oswego so for the weekend I should have some decent miles by the time it's all over.

Okay, time to get the bike ready to ride.

short ride

I had business to attend to this morning but did get time for a short ride before settling in to watch another day of the Tour of California. Those boys can sure ride FAST! ;-)

My ride wasn't near as fast as those racers, but it was a nice day to be out on the bike.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today............23...............0.................23
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......419.....+.........0........=.......419
Year to date....920.....+.........30.......=.......950
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++