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 southbound on 52nd prior to hitting a large 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.
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* (UPDATE: I am now learning that he was riding southbound on 52nd prior to the crash — not eastbound on Division as I previously thought.)
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.
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. It was Sloan’s daughter. She told me Sloan lived around SE 60th and Woodstock and was on his way home.
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.”
UPDATE: A BikePortland reader who lives across street says PBOT crews are already on the scene filling the pothole police say might have contributed to this crash. See photo below.
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I can barely type, I’m crying so hard. Mike was a prince amongst men, amongst ride leaders and the nicest guy I’ve had the pleasure to chase on a bike. We were just texting about how his brand new Cervelo was totaled in late August when an uninsured driver blew a stop sign and hit him. I am so sorry for his wife Laurie, for his kids and grandkids and for his many many friends. He will be dearly missed by all.
Thank you for covering this, and all the other crashes you cover. If I could make a request, though–could you carry a tape measure with you so you can include them in the photos to give scale of the length, width, and depth of the road hazards in question? I was also thinking this when you showed the rocky debris at the edge of Highway 43 after Rutilo Jorge died there.
Yes I’ve been meaning to do that. Thanks. This pothole is about one foot square in size and a few inches deep with sharp corners.
I’ve known and ridden with Mike for a number of years. He was such a kind man and an absolute “hard man” rider. I’d often see him riding the Bull Run loop in poor weather wearing a short sleeve jersey. He led *many* great Portland Wheelman rides, which is where I first met him. This is a very sad day for his wife and family, and for all of us. Potholes like what’s shown are all too common.
Or just sleveless!
Perhaps we should be referring to an “unrepaired road hazard” rather than a pothole. I ride around and sometimes over potholes every day — but not of this size, not with edges like this, and not with gravel.
Maybe this is just semantics but as a category “potholes” get thrown around as the sort of thing entitled neighbors complain to politicians to fix. This kind of unrepaired road hazard is more than an inconvenience to drivers; it’s another example of how little the lives of some Portlanders mean to the people who make decisions for our city.
Do we really need another euphemism interfering with our basic communication? Personally, I’m grateful to my “entitled” neighbors who care enough to try to get these potentially deadly hazards fixed.
I don’t know… seems like reports of potholes are generally ignored a lot of the time.
More tragic news for so early in the new year.
[Looking briefly at the provided photos, if the ‘pothole’ is found to be the issue, then one would potentially research the street cut permit when / who did the original pavement work there…it looks like a utility / stormwater cut. The cut ‘may’ date as far back to construction in 2016 see Google Streetview and other mapping images for more recent information to research.]
Appears to be from approx. 2020. Maybe related to a hydrant replacement. See screenshots. By 2021 that patch is already degrading significantly.
2020 patch evident from aerial.
Mike has been a friend of mine for almost 50 years. We shared many lifetime events and milestones together. Of course the first time I met him he had just ridden his bike home from work. He was one of those rare gems who could always see the positive in anyone or anything. We all were blessed to have had him as a part of our lives.
I’m so sorry for your loss. He was a pretty amazing soul. I am his neighbor and would love to see about perhaps a ghost bike memorial with his families blessing. Perhaps his cycling community knows how to get this going
Tragic reminder that reporting potholes can help others:
https://pdxreporter.org.
I usually see holes filled after reporting them, although not instantly.
I checked the reports for this location and I find it suspicious that the report for today at 9:23am has already been closed. I’ve never had them come out and inspect a pothole the same day let alone fill it. It makes me wonder if they know about this and aren’t repairing it for another reason like it not technically being a pothole or the responsibility of whatever contractor did the original patch.
It looks like the pothole that he hit was reported twice in late December and closed shortly thereafter. Clearly they’re not fixing holes at this intersection. Maybe they’re planning a repaving?
Repaving? PBOT? Never!
I saw PBOT out filling that pothole when I drove by today at about 12:15, give or take. Seems having someone actually die there prompted them to do something about that particular pothole.
Well, you know they have to argue with at least 2 other agencies over whose responsibility that particular hole in the intersection is. That could take weeks!
I reported about 10 blocks worth of holes on my street using pdxreport.org (this was already on my list of things to do but this tragedy finally pushed me to do it). Each one took seconds to do. Some were big, some were small, but I figured giving the work crew a concentrated area would get them all fixed regardless of the size.
In the past, potholes I’ve reported have been filled within 2 business days and if I added comments, like the history of the pothole (it’s complicated), the crew took it into consideration when making repairs.
I would highly, highly encourage everyone to do this throughout the year.
Yeah, I report potholes too, but honestly — a city where residents have to play road inspector is a city in freefall. Portland’s doom loop is on full display: roads left to rot until someone logs a complaint. And it’s not just dented rims — cyclist Mike Sloan just died hitting one. This isn’t some minor annoyance, it’s preventable tragedy. A city this size should be fixing hazards before locals are forced to crowdsource their own safety. Bloody pathetic.
So sorry to hear about Mike who was a close and trusted friend of mine. I made my first long bike ride with his group ride from Portland to Astoria (100 miles) about 20 years ago. He gave me the encouragement to keep going all along the way and up those hills. After finishing the ride, he gave me the nickname of “Clydesdale” for my slow and steady pace:)
PS: Mike’s wife: Laurie is going to need a lot of love and support right now.
This is terrible and I am heartbroken for Mike and his family. I wish there was a way to better know what happened. I bet the family would like to know also.
Please report all potholes like this, if you think it could impact a bike rider, e scooter rider, skateboarder the please report it to the city. I had a terrible crash that was a place the CITY had cut the pavement to repair it, left it unmarked on a bike greenway and the city claimed “it had not previously been reported” so they were not responsible and would not reimburse for damages. If you see street damage that could be a hazard report it, please!
Is there anything we as the community can do for Mike’s family?
Sheilagh
I think it would be great to discuss how his family feels about a ghost bike memorial for him. He loved biking so much. My heart goes out to his family. He was a wonderful person, great craftsman, certainly loved his bicycle, and I was always amazed at how happy he was all the time!
I’ve typed multiple responses and the short of it is that I cannot believe Mike is gone and I wanted to speak a bit about the article’s text quoted above. He was always charismatic and great to talk to. I remember talking to him about sideview mirrors for bikes after he struck up a conversation with me while taking a break on my bike.
Regarding Division at this stretch: The light cycle for 52nd Ave crossing at Division can take a long time to let people through. There is a pair of marked crosswalks one block over on 51st Ave. The jog from 51st to 52nd via Division is brief.
I too have made the same manuever out of curiosity and to see if there were ways to avoid the crossing at 52nd. Regardless of whether signal improvements at 52nd would compel more cyclists onto 52nd vs 51st is interesting but ultimately, you simply do not expect to find a pothole of that intensity.
Sigh. RIP Mike. You are missed.
This is tragic. The road is in horrible shape. I am wondering how he “came to rest just to the right of the pothole,” as the photo caption says, if hitting the pothole caused him to go over his bars.
From one of the photos there an even bigger pothole next to the curb. Maybe he hit that and landed next to the other one?
That’s my thought as well. Makes a little more sense if he was turning (NB: I don’t know if he was turning)
If the rider was going south on 52nd, I don’t see how that pothole on Division could come into play. David H. may be right, to look for other hazards that could have cause his “over-the-handlebars” wipeout. I thought the post by footwalker might be key, and I am curious if M’s friends might know if he was the same sort of tactical rider.
My heart goes out to his family and friends! Steve
Yeah. With the update that he was heading south on 52nd, this is all very confusing. It makes me wonder if some other medical event was involved.
What a horrible tragedy! the pavement looks atrocious there. I would curious about the lighting levels- A look around on Google streetview looks there is just one street light for the whole intersection. Having uneven or inadequate lighting is a common and dangerous infrastructure failure.
I had the privilege of being a close friend of Mike and Laurie’s. Like Maria said, he was a prince among men. He is loved by all who knew him. My heart is broken. We lost a legend today
he was a special person. Super tragic!
My hear goes out to his family. Is there a meal train or anything setup to we know?
Hi Kim,
I will be dropping off something for Laurie later this week and I will ask her! Thank you for your concern. His sudden death is a real shocker, and it has permanently altered everyone’s life who knew him.
Mike was a indefatigable cyclist, a master builder, a raconteur par excellence and an exemplary human being. Our community is impoverished by his loss.
I was fortunate to get to know him by joining the Thursday night Irving Park rides that he led/co-led. It was a spirited ride, I used to call it “the Thursday throw-down.” I remember one day it was in the 90s, he showed up, said he had spent the day carrying plywood sheets up three flights of stairs to the roof of the house he was working on, then spent the rest of the day working on the roof with no shade. I suggested maybe we should cancel the ride and he said something like “no need for that, it’s not _that_ hot.” Then he smoked us all going up Powell Butte, even though he was one of the oldest riders in the group. I was at least 15 years younger than him and always struggled to keep up on the climbs.
As I move into middle age, Mike was my north star of lifelong fitness. He wasn’t just an experienced cyclist, he racked up more miles riding year round than almost anyone else I know. It’s shocking that someone with his background could fall to a simple pothole but maybe that just underscores the need for investment in our street infrastructure.
My condolences to his family. Mike, rest in peace, I won’t forget you.
Based on info in Keep Portland Moving, the last officially permitted work at this location was done by PGE on 08/11/2025
Nod, Thanks! (…For Mike). That round utility cover is typical of a gas utility access.
Very sad news, but also a good reminder to report potholes when you see them to the city. I had a couple pop up on my usual commute that I wasn’t expecting and had to swerve for. Luckily, it’s a quiet street and there was no traffic, but I knew if I had been paying a little less attention it could have ended very badly for me. That’s say nothing about if it had been my wife, kids, or neighbors that caught it the hard way.
pdxroads@portlandoregon.gov
(503) 823-1700
pdxreporter.org
Yes but why does the city wait until they get a citizen report? Shouldn’t they proactively be repairing potholes? Citizen reported pothole repair creates deep inequities in neighborhood infrastructure ….yet I thought the city was all about “equity”. Guess not.
How many FTEs would you dedicate to continuously crawling every single road in Portland to look for potholes? Is the scouting crew the same as the repair crew? Do they fix it the instant they see it, or do they wait for a more opportune time? Is *any* pothole worthy of being fixed, or are they triaging on-the-fly?
“How many FTEs…”
One option would be to buy the data from Google, who are already crawling the streets regularly, and, I believe, collect data about pavement conditions. Engineers can apply whatever criteria they feel is appropriate to prioritize fixes.
It is quite possible the city already has an arrangement with Google.
Because they don’t have the resources (money) to send out enough teams to proactively patrol roads and look for potholes before they gather the attention of residents.
A tragedy for certain. However that divot looks rather mild compared to a lot of what’s out there around town.
‘Rather mild’ ! Crass
Incredible guy , so many amazing miles riding with him, he seemed tireless.
he built portland 4 square homes solo, loved turning a ping ping party into a wild dance party, so honest and full of Agape love for everyone . Love to Laurie and everyone to ever got to share time with Mike
PBOT and the city have been using “were repaving division street….eventually!” as an excuse to ignore it for like 3-4 years. This is such a terrible situation and the city should absolutely be held liable. Rest in Peace.
I am a long time member of the Portland Bicycle Club who is now retired and living in Spain. I just saw your article about Mike. I knew Mike for many years. He was one of the nicest, most cheerful and upbeat people I have ever known. I can’t think of a time when he didn’t have a good word and a smile on his face. This news just breaks my heart.
reading through the comments, I am very sad to learn about Mike, who was a beloved member of our community. my heart is so sad for everyone who knew him, he sounds like a wonderful person. As a person who has “gotten that call” from the Multnomah County Medical Examiner, I am just sick thinking about his family getting that call & how they are feeling right now.
I am surprised that there aren’t more comments on here lamenting the horrible road condition that is Division. as a person who lives two blocks south of this intersection, rides this intersection several times a week and often rides the FX, I am constantly aghast at how bad the surface of Division has gotten.
That being said, this is a wake up call to me. As i’ve traversed this same intersection many, many times, I thought it was “one of the safe ones” due to the green box, one way road traffic (north of the intersection). It feels like no where is safe for us, really. Mike was hit TWICE (according to Maria’s comment). like what? what kind of city do we have…. beyond tragic
I am also surprised that there aren’t more comments here lamenting the horrible condition of Division.
Didn’t a scooter rider die from a pothole on this same street a couple months ago?? EFFIN potholes sheesh:(
Yes. It was a bit further south on 52nd tho.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kptv.com/2025/09/20/man-dies-after-hitting-pothole-notorious-se-portland-intersection-e-scooter/%3foutputType=amp
The article asserts that this tragedy is “the third fatal crash this year.”
If the other two victims were both cyclists, that implies an annual cyclist fatality rate of about 219. That seems high to me.
Jonathan, can you clarify what you meant? Is it that there have been three traffic fatalities in Portland so far in 2026? Or have there somehow been two other cycling deaths in Portland in less than a week?
All three deaths are tragic, of course, but how many were cyclists?
one cyclist. I should have clarified. Here’s my Fatality Tracker https://bikeportland.org/fatality-tracker
Thanks for clarifying here in the comments. And thanks for tracking something so grim.
Our annual cyclist fatality rate is 3 a year on average since 2018 based on Jonathan’s count. Pedestrian’s are 24, drivers 21, motorcyclists 9 and everyone else 2.
I first met Mike on 2004 when he was remodeling the house next door, the entire house, by himself. He would work 10 hour days, and eat 3 peanut butter sandwiches for lunch.
The first Wheelman ride I rode with him, we were flying through the east side, FAST, with me hanging on for dear life at the back. Up front Mike was pulling the few dozen of us, wearing a thread bare kit, riding a steel bike from the 80s with down tube shifters. He was a HARD MAN on that bike and a true gentleman, he will be missed.
This is such a heartbreaking and shocking tragedy that has shaken us to our core. I’ve known Mike for almost 35 years as he was one of my husband’s best friends since the 70’s. Mike was so vibrant, so kind and friendly, always seeing the best in everyone and every situation. He had a great sense of humor—we had so many silly inside jokes that we laughed every time we got together. He was a master home builder—a tireless, perfectionist. Mike and my husband rode together many times over the years. He was a true friend, a good husband, father and grandfather. This is a devastating loss to his family, his friends and the community.
My heart breaks for his family and cycling community.
I was driving by at 8:23 that evening and watched as numerous folks ran to his aid trying to help. I’m so angry to hear that this could have been an easily resolved issue with the street. It was so dark and hard to see.
I was searching for answers in hopes to see what had happened and so sad to see he didn’t survive.
Please post if there is a way to contribute to his family in any way as they grieve this horrible tragedy.
So sad. Condolences to family and friends.
I wonder if this tragedy will get commenters on bike portland to stop saying potholes are effective traffic control devices. I hope so. It’s past time our city prioritize basic infrastructure maintenance and municipal responsibilities over performative governance. I hope this terrible loss of life can move us in a better direction.
I am furious about this. I live very near this intersection and I think SE Division from Cesar Chavez to SE 52nd is the worst road in Portland. It is outrageous that we pay so much taxes, especially property taxes, and our roads are so bad people are dying. I am so sorry for his loss
You don’t pay so much in property taxes because Oregon voters* enacted measure 5 which froze property tax increases at 3% regardless of the improved value of homes. Moreover, Oregon’s anti-government and anti-poor voters also approved measure 50 which rolled back housing values to 90% of 1995–96 values. If all homeloaners/owners were taxed at 50% of the actual assessed value of their homes, Portland would be swimming in revenue.
*Oregon is a deeply libertarian-conservative state and I hate it here.
Awful. I bike this intersection super often and I drive Division often too. Division from Chavez to about 54th has been so awful for a year or two – I cannot believe they are running the FX line on this route – even in the cushiest cars it will knock a filling out.
I didn’t know Mike but he sounds like a great person and rider that this community lost and I am sorry to have not known him. RIP
One of the things about surface hazards on roads (potholes, train tracks, wet leaves, curbs, weirdly-shaped bumps, etc.) is that a hazard you could easily avoid or absorb in isolation can become dangerous like this when you hit it unexpectedly. Being on a road with heavy or fast-moving traffic that demands all your attention compounds this kind of risk. Even for people with lots of skill and experience.
Maybe that’s something we can take into account when prioritizing fixes.