Safety: My Account
Editor’s Note: There were two riders involved in an accident that occurred on the Springwater Corridor Trail on January 16: Dave McQuery and Ken Lee. Each has graciously written about the incident for readers to learn from their experience how to ride more safely. This is Ken Lee’s account taken from an email from Ken to Dave. (For Dave McQuery’s article, go to Safety: My Crash.)
My left forearm took the brunt of the crash, but fortunately I suffered only bruises and road rash on my arm and legs. I thought my arm was broken, but fortunately it was just bruised. The front of my helmet was cracked from hitting the rails; I didn’t realize this until I got home. It could have been much worse, so we are both lucky to come out of it in one piece.
I was not on this PBC ride; I had ridden to my office in SE Portland to get some extra work done and was riding home on the Springwater, something I often do. I had the misfortune of catching the back of your group ride as the pack was leaving the parking lot to cross Johnson Creek Blvd. I couldn’t pass because there were oncoming riders, so I settled in behind you as we crossed over to the bridge. I was looking to pass you as soon as it was safe. I think Bud Rice was on your right and as he rode away from you, you did not make an effort to move over to the right side of the path. So, I rang my bell, called out, “On your left,” and proceeded to pass you on your left. ✎
After the crash, you told me you heard me say, “On your left,” but then thought you heard me say, “On your right,” causing you to immediately swerve left, slamming me into the bridge rails. I was saying, “I’m not on this ride,” so this may have sounded like “I’m on your right” to you, but this indicates you have a misunderstanding of what either warning means.
“On your left” means a rider is passing from behind you on your left. It means to continue riding in the direction and pace you are riding in, but do not drift or turn left. It does not mean you need to pull over to the right to make room for the passing rider. It’s the passing rider’s responsibility to determine if there is room and if it’s safe to pass. Likewise, in the rare case that you hear, “On your right,” there is no need to move to the left. In both cases you just need to continue holding your line in the direction you are riding. You don’t need to speed up or slow down, you just need to ride at the pace you are riding. If you had heeded this, the crash would never have happened.
If it’s not too late, I think this clarification should be made before the February QR is published as your safety article implies to its readers that they need to move over when they hear, “On your left.” That’s wrong and dangerous. You do not have to move over to make room for a rider to pass, you just need to hold your line.
That said, there is another issue with your riding in this situation that concerns me. You were riding too far to the left of the center of the path and not passing anyone. There was no reason you shouldn’t have moved to the right side of the path after Bud rode ahead. I get it that for a lot of riders when riding two abreast the rider on the left might be a little to the left of the center of the path. However, you were not riding next to anyone.
Being a sweeper doesn’t give you a license to ride on the wrong side of the road when you’re not passing other riders. Doing so just creates an unsafe situation on the path as what happened in this case. If the club has some kind of policy for this, it should be reviewed and eliminated. There’s no reason why the sweeper’s job can’t be done on the right side of the path or at least just left of center riding two abreast, especially when using a mirror as you do.
We dodged a bullet in this case, but unless you correct your article, it could happen again with another club member.
BTW, I do have video of the crash: https://youtu.be/JoxM5WxWuok
Stay safe,
Ken Lee, Guest Contributor