It happened near this location in Washington Park.
The Portland Police Bureau just reported a fatal collision involving a bicycle rider that happened Sunday night in Washington Park.
Here’s the full PPB statement:
On Sunday, August 31, 2025, at approximately 6:30 p.m., officers assigned to the Portland Police Bureau’s Central Precinct responded to a bicycle crash in the area of Southwest Sacajawea Boulevard and Southwest Lewis and Clark Circle in Washington Park. When they arrived, officers located an adult male cyclist deceased.
PPB’s Major Crash Team (MCT) responded to the scene. The preliminary investigation indicates the cyclist, who was not wearing a helmet, was riding a BMX-style bike downhill with a group of other cyclists when he crashed trying to ride between two boulders.
No further information will be released at this time.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact PPB’s Traffic Division and reference case number 25-238736.
This description would seem to imply that the person who died was taking part in a group ride. I’m not aware of any such ride that was going on yesterday that would have placed a group like this in Washington Park at that time. Hearing that it was a “BMX-style” bike (which I take it to mean it was small) and given the location, this might have been a group doing a sort of “Zoobomb” — which is a well-known tradition (which has fizzled out quite a bit since its heyday 15 years or so ago) where people ride minibikes up to the top of the park (the zoo) and then “bomb” down. The location at Lewis and Clark Circle is a common stopping point on some Zoobomb routes.
I don’t have any details beyond what the police have shared. So if you know more and want the community to hear about it, please reach out to me.
UPDATE, 5:32 pm: The man who died was 46 year old Brian Hesse. He was an active member of the PDX Bike Life community on Facebook. This His daughter posted this remembrance of him on that page along with the photo:
Just wanted to say how much my dad enjoyed every moment with you all. Everytime i would talk to him he’d either be out with yall or talking about the next ride.
You all gave him the best years of his life, and right now that’s the only thing im finding comfort in.
Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a paying subscriber.
BikePortland has served this community with independent community journalism since 2005. We rely on subscriptions from readers like you to survive. Your financial support is vital in keeping this valuable resource alive and well.
I’m not aware of any such ride that was going on yesterday that would have placed a group like this in Washington Park at that time. Hearing that it was a “BMX-style” bike (which I take it to mean it was small) and given the location, this might have been a group doing a sort of “Zoobomb”
Perhaps shockingly, not all group rides make it to the SHIFT calendar, or are known about to BikePortland readers. This site has always catered to a very specific segment of cyclists very much and more so in recent years. It’s a big world out there.
Anyhow, wear your helmets, folks. Even if Jonathan chooses not to.
Tara
21 days ago
This was my brother. He was part of the PDX bike life crew. A father, son, brother and all around great person. They weren’t racing. It was an accident.
I am so sorry for you and your family’s loss. As a former longtime bike advocate for a statewide org I have been close to several fatal crashes. These crashes are so painful in their suddenness and especially because cyclists are often such great people. It sounds like your brother was one of them and like he was doing something he loved dearly. Wishing you and especially his daughter and immediate family solace and the comfort of loved ones and friends at this difficult time.
Dan
21 days ago
This is terribly said news to hear about a cycling supporter and enthusiast. This is a terrible reminder to the rest of us about the importance of wearing a helmet, even when the right doesn’t look dangerous.
My wife was a paramedic for many years. If you could see what she saw you would never not wear a helmet or use a seatbelt.
However we don’t know that a helmet would have prevented the untimely death of the rider in this situation. There are many ways to get critically injured on a bike.
Eric Leifsdad
20 days ago
Why do the boulders seem much closer to the curb in the ghostbike picture than in the streetview?
Possibly lens/image distortion from the Street View’s wide-angle camera and compositing algorithm
Angus Peters
20 days ago
Tragic news about the cyclist—truly heartbreaking. Sending love to their family and mates doing it tough right now. Just a reminder to all: helmets aren’t just a box to tick—they genuinely save lives. Doesn’t matter if it’s a quick ride to the shops or a weekend spin, chuck one on. Stay safe out there, legends.
Chris I
20 days ago
Hopefully the family doesn’t sue the City. Unfortunately, we need hardscaping like this to keep cars out of our parks and pedestrian areas. I would hate to have something like this end up discouraging the City from installing additional barriers to cars.
The level of narcissism is crazy when you read a post about someone dying and your first thought is to tell randos on the internet via a comment section how to avoid said death. My people this is not about you, the best you can do is have empathy and feel sad about it. I personally can only hope to die while doing something I love, if that’s how I got to go.
If what you say were true, the entire field of safety and occupational health wouldn’t exist. The entire premise is that we LEARN from things that have happened before and seek to improve on them so others are not similarly – and negatively – impacted in future.
JM is obviously tired of the helmet debate but we can use SCIENCE to help us decide how to behave in ways that mitigate injury and death. I know people are sad about Brian’s death but SOH must continue to guide our future actions.
Speaking of narcissism and not letting go of a wildly unnecessary agenda. You did this when Johnathan Henderson died as well, maybe this time give Brian and his family the temporary solace of quiet, empathy and respect for their loss?
No one said to ignore facts, but the very need for people to push said facts in this way is nothing more than narcissism and ego in my personal opinion. You cant actually think its helping to others like they are gonna have an epiphany right now?
I will leave it at this. If you are sincere about using this as a learning moment then you too should be open to learning about something. I recommend you lean about emotional intelligence.
The level of narcissism is crazy when you read a post about someone dying and your first thought is to tell randos on the internet via a comment section how to avoid said death.
Why on earth is it narcissistic to use a tragedy to help others avoid a similar fate?
Because it has nothing to do with helping others, its about the inability of people to stop themselves from projecting their ideals on to others and using death as an opportunity to validate their bias at the expenses of people who are grieving death. This is related to their trauma response and confirmation bias. The fact that you think its helping others is the point I’m making.
I believe we should learn from the experiences of others, positive or negative. I don’t think there’s a problem with that, and I’m not sure why it comes at the expense of anyone.
When the same topic was broached recently in a completely different context, people got very defensive and critical, as you are doing here.
Is your message that folks just mind their own business and not try to help one another be safer? Or is there actually a better way?
I’m not sure why it comes at the expense of anyone.
This part comes with experience. Its not inherently well known till you start to become more self aware. It begins with looking at your intent, from there you have to understand that regardless of your intent your actions still have outcomes (causation). From there its a matter of can you become accountable for the outcome even if they don’t align with your intent. For example the people who knew of this person directly and then read your message as disparaging of their death as if they could have avoided it then associate a negative connotation to your statement at a moment they are already dealing with grief.
In short you are upsetting people without shame.
This is at the root of the issue, because they’re grieving about someones death and now is not the time for criticisms or opinions.
It shows a lack of empathy, like its more important that you are right than it is about this person dying.
If you are looking for advocacy to push your agenda there many other ways which will produce much more beneficial results.
My message is to help you become more self aware of your actions and how they effect others around you. That’s where I would start if you are interested in helping.
Jonathan can account for my behavior in the past, if anything I’m telling you this from my own personal journey in learning this the hard way.
That is not at all what Josh’s comment is doing. Even a quick scan of it reveals that he’s not issuing any orders. He’s explaining the consequences of actions and letting people decide for themselves how to use that information.
I am 100% for autonomy. Like women should have the rights to abortions, people should be able to take what ever drugs they want, suicide should be a protected civil right, transsexual conversion therapy ect. These are personal choices that only physically effect you in the end. Not taking a vaccine is also a personal choice, its your body after all. But that said you taking your body in to a public space where you can transmit a communicable pathogen that can get other people sick is not a personal choice, that is a choice the does effect other people and society should have to right to reject and restrict people who are not respectful of their autonomy.
This conflated example effects others around you, not wearing a helmet only effects you and is and should be a personal choice. But the fact you conflate to the two as the same is beyond idiocy.
Not taking a vaccine is also a personal choice, its your body after all.
This, like several of the items you listed, has ramifications that extend beyond the individual. Having measles or covid running rampant impacts far more than the just the people who get sick, including those not able to get the vaccine for whatever reason (the immuno-compromised, for example), and can even impact larger society, as we saw in 2020. Not everyone who carries these diseases knows they have it, and can continue to spread it unknowingly (most famously Typhoid Mary). Drug use can also impact larger society — just ask anyone who knows an addict.
Taking a maximalist position on individual rights requires ignoring the fact that we live in community and society and are all connected to one another.
This, like several of the items you listed, has ramifications that extend beyond the individual
Nice cherry picking you did there, Did you even read what I wrote or is the confirmation bias too strong to see the rest of the post?
But that said you taking your body in to a public space where you can transmit a communicable pathogen that can get other people sick is not a personal choice, that is a choice the does effect other people and society should have to right to reject and restrict people who are not respectful of their autonomy.
Yes, I read what you said. You said “not wearing a helmet only effects you and is and should be a personal choice”. But you can see from the personal anguish expressed here that that statement is false.
Just like in abortion, sex changes and gay marriage, your feelings don’t count. Sorry, not sorry. Personal anguish is not equivalent, if anything you are making the same argument as the fascist who oppose personal liberties in this country.
But also to speaking about “personal anguish” while posting conjecture in a comment section where immediate family members of the deceased who had to clarify circumstances in defense of the deceased is so hypocritical.
So which is it, do you or don’t you care about other people’s feelings? Clearly the direct family of the deceased don’t deserve that level of concern else you would not be pushing said agendas here. This is not helping anyone but your own self important egos.
Because it might make a cyclist look negligent, or in some way responsible for what happened. When you can’t blame a car or infrastructure as the obvious bogey-man, you’re now allowed to point out any other possibilities.
AndyK
19 days ago
This is a huge loss for the cycling community, thank you for covering this and cleaning up the comment section. Rest in peace, Brian.
Middle of the Road Guy
19 days ago
I’m curious how Vision Zero would have prevented this.
kittens
19 days ago
Reading the comments here… I think everyone needs to chill. It is partly why I stopped reading this blog years ago but I came upon this accident right after it happened and wanted to learn more so came here.
Two points:
1) The people who make comments about possible solutions or ways to avoid this fate are not evil or narcissistic, they just want to be helpful.
2) The people who offer their condolences are not lazy or stupid they are just being compassionate.
We all jump to conclusions about causation when hear about accidents and assuming everyone has good intentions would go so far in enriching the public discourse.
Rebecca Ellen
18 days ago
Have been following this blog since 2009. This was a disappointing read. Do better. Maybe reach out to the group who organized the ride to get the facts, and post something with less speculation.
“…I’m not aware of any such ride that was going on yesterday that would have placed a group like this in Washington Park at that time. Hearing that it was a “BMX-style” bike (which I take it to mean it was small) and given the location, this might have been a group doing a sort of “Zoobomb” — which is a well-known tradition (which has fizzled out quite a bit since its heyday 15 years or so ago) where people ride minibikes up to the top of the park (the zoo) and then “bomb” down. The location at Lewis and Clark Circle is a common stopping point on some Zoobomb routes.”
As commenter ELF Soccoro noted, “Perhaps shockingly, not all group rides make it to the SHIFT calendar, or are known about to BikePortland readers. This site has always catered to a very specific segment of cyclists very much and more so in recent years. It’s a big world out there.”
Speculation is speculation, and these cyclists deserve the same journalistic integrity as any other cyclist reported on in this blog. “Minutes after” and being first or early do not trump vetting information.
Thanks for reading.
BikePortland has served this community with independent community journalism since 2005. We rely on subscriptions from readers like you to survive. Your financial support is vital in keeping this valuable resource alive and well.
Please subscribe today to strengthen and expand our work.
He was a great guy! And will be missed by many!
Perhaps shockingly, not all group rides make it to the SHIFT calendar, or are known about to BikePortland readers. This site has always catered to a very specific segment of cyclists very much and more so in recent years. It’s a big world out there.
Anyhow, wear your helmets, folks. Even if Jonathan chooses not to.
This was my brother. He was part of the PDX bike life crew. A father, son, brother and all around great person. They weren’t racing. It was an accident.
So sorry for your loss.
I am so sorry for you and your family’s loss. As a former longtime bike advocate for a statewide org I have been close to several fatal crashes. These crashes are so painful in their suddenness and especially because cyclists are often such great people. It sounds like your brother was one of them and like he was doing something he loved dearly. Wishing you and especially his daughter and immediate family solace and the comfort of loved ones and friends at this difficult time.
This is terribly said news to hear about a cycling supporter and enthusiast. This is a terrible reminder to the rest of us about the importance of wearing a helmet, even when the right doesn’t look dangerous.
My wife was a paramedic for many years. If you could see what she saw you would never not wear a helmet or use a seatbelt.
However we don’t know that a helmet would have prevented the untimely death of the rider in this situation. There are many ways to get critically injured on a bike.
Why do the boulders seem much closer to the curb in the ghostbike picture than in the streetview?
streetview could be old image and perhaps they’ve been moved since.
Possibly lens/image distortion from the Street View’s wide-angle camera and compositing algorithm
Tragic news about the cyclist—truly heartbreaking. Sending love to their family and mates doing it tough right now. Just a reminder to all: helmets aren’t just a box to tick—they genuinely save lives. Doesn’t matter if it’s a quick ride to the shops or a weekend spin, chuck one on. Stay safe out there, legends.
Hopefully the family doesn’t sue the City. Unfortunately, we need hardscaping like this to keep cars out of our parks and pedestrian areas. I would hate to have something like this end up discouraging the City from installing additional barriers to cars.
Helmets! It’s easy.
The level of narcissism is crazy when you read a post about someone dying and your first thought is to tell randos on the internet via a comment section how to avoid said death. My people this is not about you, the best you can do is have empathy and feel sad about it. I personally can only hope to die while doing something I love, if that’s how I got to go.
Well said Josh!
BTW folks, I just went through and deleted a bunch of inappropriate comments.
If what you say were true, the entire field of safety and occupational health wouldn’t exist. The entire premise is that we LEARN from things that have happened before and seek to improve on them so others are not similarly – and negatively – impacted in future.
JM is obviously tired of the helmet debate but we can use SCIENCE to help us decide how to behave in ways that mitigate injury and death. I know people are sad about Brian’s death but SOH must continue to guide our future actions.
Professionals trained and dedicated to elevating the safety of professional work environments and comments on internet aren’t worth comparing, IMO
Speaking of narcissism and not letting go of a wildly unnecessary agenda. You did this when Johnathan Henderson died as well, maybe this time give Brian and his family the temporary solace of quiet, empathy and respect for their loss?
No one said to ignore facts, but the very need for people to push said facts in this way is nothing more than narcissism and ego in my personal opinion. You cant actually think its helping to others like they are gonna have an epiphany right now?
I will leave it at this. If you are sincere about using this as a learning moment then you too should be open to learning about something. I recommend you lean about emotional intelligence.
I like this comment too much to just do a “like”.
The irony of it coming from me of all people here in this blog.
OMG THIS. Take a beat and read the room, especially with said person’s immediate family here. There can be another post for take-aways.
Why on earth is it narcissistic to use a tragedy to help others avoid a similar fate?
Because it has nothing to do with helping others, its about the inability of people to stop themselves from projecting their ideals on to others and using death as an opportunity to validate their bias at the expenses of people who are grieving death. This is related to their trauma response and confirmation bias. The fact that you think its helping others is the point I’m making.
I say this as someone who has done this very thing here in this very blog,
Trust me, its not the right way.
I believe we should learn from the experiences of others, positive or negative. I don’t think there’s a problem with that, and I’m not sure why it comes at the expense of anyone.
When the same topic was broached recently in a completely different context, people got very defensive and critical, as you are doing here.
Is your message that folks just mind their own business and not try to help one another be safer? Or is there actually a better way?
This part comes with experience. Its not inherently well known till you start to become more self aware. It begins with looking at your intent, from there you have to understand that regardless of your intent your actions still have outcomes (causation). From there its a matter of can you become accountable for the outcome even if they don’t align with your intent. For example the people who knew of this person directly and then read your message as disparaging of their death as if they could have avoided it then associate a negative connotation to your statement at a moment they are already dealing with grief.
In short you are upsetting people without shame.
This is at the root of the issue, because they’re grieving about someones death and now is not the time for criticisms or opinions.
It shows a lack of empathy, like its more important that you are right than it is about this person dying.
If you are looking for advocacy to push your agenda there many other ways which will produce much more beneficial results.
My message is to help you become more self aware of your actions and how they effect others around you. That’s where I would start if you are interested in helping.
Jonathan can account for my behavior in the past, if anything I’m telling you this from my own personal journey in learning this the hard way.
How dare you tell people how to act and what to say?
That is not at all what Josh’s comment is doing. Even a quick scan of it reveals that he’s not issuing any orders. He’s explaining the consequences of actions and letting people decide for themselves how to use that information.
I really hope you didn’t have any opinions about people who did not vaccinate against Covid.
I am 100% for autonomy. Like women should have the rights to abortions, people should be able to take what ever drugs they want, suicide should be a protected civil right, transsexual conversion therapy ect. These are personal choices that only physically effect you in the end. Not taking a vaccine is also a personal choice, its your body after all. But that said you taking your body in to a public space where you can transmit a communicable pathogen that can get other people sick is not a personal choice, that is a choice the does effect other people and society should have to right to reject and restrict people who are not respectful of their autonomy.
This conflated example effects others around you, not wearing a helmet only effects you and is and should be a personal choice. But the fact you conflate to the two as the same is beyond idiocy.
This, like several of the items you listed, has ramifications that extend beyond the individual. Having measles or covid running rampant impacts far more than the just the people who get sick, including those not able to get the vaccine for whatever reason (the immuno-compromised, for example), and can even impact larger society, as we saw in 2020. Not everyone who carries these diseases knows they have it, and can continue to spread it unknowingly (most famously Typhoid Mary). Drug use can also impact larger society — just ask anyone who knows an addict.
Taking a maximalist position on individual rights requires ignoring the fact that we live in community and society and are all connected to one another.
Your individual choices impact others.
Nice cherry picking you did there, Did you even read what I wrote or is the confirmation bias too strong to see the rest of the post?
Yes, I read what you said. You said “not wearing a helmet only effects you and is and should be a personal choice”. But you can see from the personal anguish expressed here that that statement is false.
Just like in abortion, sex changes and gay marriage, your feelings don’t count. Sorry, not sorry. Personal anguish is not equivalent, if anything you are making the same argument as the fascist who oppose personal liberties in this country.
But also to speaking about “personal anguish” while posting conjecture in a comment section where immediate family members of the deceased who had to clarify circumstances in defense of the deceased is so hypocritical.
So which is it, do you or don’t you care about other people’s feelings? Clearly the direct family of the deceased don’t deserve that level of concern else you would not be pushing said agendas here. This is not helping anyone but your own self important egos.
You’re restating exactly the point Josh made in the sentence after the one you quoted.
Because it might make a cyclist look negligent, or in some way responsible for what happened. When you can’t blame a car or infrastructure as the obvious bogey-man, you’re now allowed to point out any other possibilities.
This is a huge loss for the cycling community, thank you for covering this and cleaning up the comment section. Rest in peace, Brian.
I’m curious how Vision Zero would have prevented this.
Reading the comments here… I think everyone needs to chill. It is partly why I stopped reading this blog years ago but I came upon this accident right after it happened and wanted to learn more so came here.
Two points:
1) The people who make comments about possible solutions or ways to avoid this fate are not evil or narcissistic, they just want to be helpful.
2) The people who offer their condolences are not lazy or stupid they are just being compassionate.
We all jump to conclusions about causation when hear about accidents and assuming everyone has good intentions would go so far in enriching the public discourse.
Have been following this blog since 2009. This was a disappointing read. Do better. Maybe reach out to the group who organized the ride to get the facts, and post something with less speculation.
“…I’m not aware of any such ride that was going on yesterday that would have placed a group like this in Washington Park at that time. Hearing that it was a “BMX-style” bike (which I take it to mean it was small) and given the location, this might have been a group doing a sort of “Zoobomb” — which is a well-known tradition (which has fizzled out quite a bit since its heyday 15 years or so ago) where people ride minibikes up to the top of the park (the zoo) and then “bomb” down. The location at Lewis and Clark Circle is a common stopping point on some Zoobomb routes.”
As commenter ELF Soccoro noted, “Perhaps shockingly, not all group rides make it to the SHIFT calendar, or are known about to BikePortland readers. This site has always catered to a very specific segment of cyclists very much and more so in recent years. It’s a big world out there.”
Hi. I wrote this minutes after first hearing about it. Also, I often think of “Zoobomb” more as a verb than an adjective just FYI.
Speculation is speculation, and these cyclists deserve the same journalistic integrity as any other cyclist reported on in this blog. “Minutes after” and being first or early do not trump vetting information.
Hi Rebecca. Thanks. I don’t agree with how you’re framing my work here, but I appreciate your concern.