September Top Talk

By Doug Myers, President

A Second Chance

A year or two ago I was riding northbound on the Peninsula Crossing Trail parallel to North Portland Road when I hit a buckle in the asphalt caused by a root. My front tire left the ground as both of my hands were jerked off of the handlebars. It was one of those moments when you know that you are going to take a hard fall and there’s nothing that you can do to prevent it. Miraculously, the bike landed with its wheel upright as my hands slapped back onto the handlebars, giving me total control of the bike. I breathed a sigh of relief, thanked God for my deliverance from a potential disaster, and vowed to be more careful on that section of trail.

This month I was riding northbound on the same trail, hurrying to get to the light to push the crosswalk button at Marine Drive for the other riders. The same buckle in the asphalt was perfectly aligned with the shadow of a tree branch, rendering it invisible. This time I went down. Hard.

My response this time was different. As soon as I was able, I called the city, who informed me that the bike trail was the responsibility of the parks department. Several calls later, I was able to describe the hazard and its location to the appropriate person. As a backup, I revisited the scene before the club picnic with a can of yellow spray paint. As I suspected, nothing had been done with the root, so I painted the buckle and two of its companions in an effort to save some other rider’s hide.

Bicycling safety is the responsibility of us all. I had a second chance to do the right thing.

p.s. Most things are healing well, but the broken finger makes typing difficult!