I’m typing this on my phone while standing at the corner of Southeast Division and 52nd, where a man died while bicycling Monday night. It happened around 8:30 pm at the southwest corner of the intersection. The man, who I’ve identified as Mike Sloan, appears to have been riding eastbound prior to the crash. Witnesses tell BikePortland he hit a pothole. “We were driving and used our car to block off the road when the two witnesses who watched him fall off the bike flagged us down,” one reader has shared with me today. “At least one accounted that they witnessed him hit the pothole.”
Below is the statement I just received from the Portland Police Bureau:
At approximately 8:30 p.m. Monday, officers responded to the area of Southeast Division Street and Southeast 52nd Avenue. When they arrived, they located an adult male cyclist deceased. Officers spoke to numerous witnesses who stated they saw the cyclist lose balance/control and go over the handlebars. The witnesses stated that no vehicles were involved. Officers canvassed the area for cameras and did not locate any. They did find a pothole and believe this could have been the cause of the incident.
Soon after the incident, I received several photos and messages from the scene. I rode over this morning to take a closer look. There’s a pothole just inches from where the victim’s body came to rest. Gravel from the approximately one-foot square pothole is sprayed all around and its edges are sharp. In photos shared by readers, I could see Sloan’s bicycle, a Trek road bike, propped up against a fire extinguisher.
Acccording to friends who knew Sloan, he was a popular member of Portland Bicycling Club. “He was a pillar in the PBC community for many years, a friend shared with me a few minutes ago. “One of the first and best ride leaders I ever met. We are stunned.”
While I was standing at the corner, a woman walked over and began taking photos of the pothole. She was Sloan’s daughter.
This block of Division is not a popular bike route, given its lack of bike lane, the high volume of car users, and an FX-2 bus stop just prior to the corner. SE 52nd, however, is a very busy neighborhood greenway. Perhaps Sloan was just on Division for a block or two in order to connect to the greenway. His daughter said he was riding home and lived near SE 60th and Woodstock.
This block has an incline, and given how close to the pothole his body came to rest, it doesn’t appear that he was going very fast. Unless good video footage emerges, we may never know exactly what caused this experienced rider to crash. A witness I met at the scene said the bike was equipped with good front and rear lights, but of course it’s unknown whether or not Sloan would have seen the pothole.
This is the third fatal crash in Portland so far this year. It comes just three weeks after Portland City Councilor Olivia Clark launched a new effort to raise revenue for the transportation bureau. In an interview, I ask how she’d respond to a person who opposes paying more in taxes and fees. “I would say, personally, I’m sick of potholes,” Clark responded. “Are you tired of having to get your car realigned, or you’re falling on your nose on your bike when you go into a pothole? It’s not safe.”