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.)
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.
UPDATE: A friend sent along this photo of he and Mike on a ride in the Gorge. Mike is on the left.
Thanks for reading.
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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.
I want to thank everyone who has shared positive comments and memories about my dad. This is an extremely hard time for our family and it brings some comfort knowing how much he meant to so many people. I also want to thank those who have laid flowers and written kind notes at the site of the accident.
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!
I didn’t know Mike’s last name, so I always just called him “Sleeveless Mike” amd people knew exactly who I was talking about. Legend.
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
Ross, any favorite photos of Mike to share to share with the BP community?
Mike is on the left. We had finished riding from Multnomah Falls to Larch Mountain and back on a hot July day.
Ross, thank you for the share
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!
Division from 39th to 50/52 has been a wreck for at least 10-15 years. You’d think they have squeezed in enough dense “housing” to finally give it a proper pave!
You would think.
They need to tear out the old streetcar tracks. Every time they repave this section, it quickly cracks and degrades from the tracks.
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.
I cant think of a single major city that doesn’t have a pothole hotline.
I know it’s hard to fathom, but being a good citizen entails more than just paying your taxes and voting.
Im confused. They DO have a hotline.
Yes. That exactly what I said.
This is such a dumb take. There are a bazillion streets. How is the city supposed to magically know about every flaw in the road?
…especially in a nation conditioned to believe government should run like a business, as in cut all costs possible, and that government employees cost way too much to employ…
I agree, Angus. If people at PBOT (and ODOT) rode bikes AND exercised some oversight, we wouldn’t have to crowdsource our own safety (nicely put!).
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.
I don’t see how he would have veered to his right, in crossing Division, to hit the pothole at sufficient speed to cause him to go over the handlebar. From the article… “Officers … did find a pothole and believe this could have been the cause of the incident.” That seems like malfeasance, to steer investigation in some simplistic direction.
What was the condition of the bike?
Yeah, the story just doesn’t add up at all. I was confused before, how he could have landed inches away from the pothole he hit, that just doesn’t pass the smell test. It sounds like lazy police work who just looked for whatever to say eh, maybe it was that and move on.
That said it’s hard to imagine what happened. I’d assume hit and run if not for the witnesses.
Seems like medical or is it possible a mechanical problem could do it? I obviously don’t have enough to guess, but I’m really curious to know (not just idle curiosity, but it’s relevant to any rider I think).
But I also want to be respectful to the family and loved ones who may be in here reading the comments.
Supposed Witnesses are quoted, but not in detail. What exactly did they see? Autopsy also seems critical.
I’m still stunned by the loss of Mike. I’ve known him since the 1990s and did all those Tuesday and Thursday night rides out of Wilshire Park with him through 2018. I was a former ride leader, and Mike eventually took over the lead for both nights. We had crossed paths many times on the Springwater Trail over the years since 2018, often spending as much as an hour catching up with what was going on in our lives and with old friends. He was a great human being, and a strong rider as described in these posts.
Not to take anything away from all the concerns with potholes in Portland streets which are a dangerous problem, the update that he was riding south on SE 52nd and not east on Division does seem to suggest the potholes in the photos were not the cause of his crash as pointed out by Steve Keller. They are on the west side of the cross walk, further away from the intersection of SE 52nd and Division.
Mike’s home is on SE Woodward Street, not on Woodstock. It is on the east-west Bike Route that eventually connects to SE Clinton as the route continues west of SE 50th. Mike would have been riding in the same direction (south) on SE 52nd as the rider in the bike box in the first photo, crossing Division and riding south up the hill before turning left on Woodward by Franklin High School on his way home. I’ve been told by a friend who often commuted home with him after the Tuesday and Thursday night rides that this was the route they took.
It’s more likely that if he didn’t have a mechanical or other bike issue, another pothole or bump in the asphalt east of the crosswalk in the intersection could have caused him to crash and land by the potholes in the photos. An unexpected medical issue as suggested by Paul H could also have caused a sudden loss of balance, pitching him over the handlebars as some eyewitnesses have reported.
Whatever the cause, we lost a great friend and person last Monday night. My condolences go out to his wife Laurie and their family.
Maybe he rolled, trying to protect himself. Hard to say.
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.
It was my understanding that Google (in service of Street View) periodically and opportunistically crawls major streets roughly annually and lesser streets every couple of years. They also seem to prioritize doing in nice weather and not after, say, a week of freeze thaw weather. Is that off-base?
Is Waymo meaningfully operating in Portland now? I don’t think a few taxi trips are going to cut it as a full roadway condition monitoring. For that to work, the scope of the contract with the city would have to include patrols in areas that Waymo will surely identify and sub-optimal for maximizing their profit from paying customers.
I also had the thought that this would put more vehicles on low-volume streets that are nice to walk and ride on. Thinking about that more, I don’t think even a couple of daily trips would move that needle much.
Annual data is far better than none at all, and potholes generally do not develop overnight.
My point is that there are ways the city can monitor street condition without assigning FTEs to patrol every street. Other ideas include putting sensors on the bottom of police cars or trash trucks or using high resolution aerial photography.
I believe this is mostly a solved (or at least solvable) problem.
Head over to the Copernicus Browser to see how difficult it is to get comprehensive, cloud-free coverage of an area the size of Portland most of the year. That’s to say nothing of the amount of road that’ll be hidden by tree and cars when you finally do get cloudless daylight as the satellite is passing overhead.
https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu/
To see a pothole from the air, you’re going to need probably about 10 cm resolution. You might as well deploy drones at that point (which I’m sure will go over as well as a fart in a nude yoga class).
I agree that it’s a solvable problem, but the solutions are far more complicated than, “just get Waymo or satellite data”.
Or if PBOT managers rode bikes, they would experience the potholes themselves.
I hear lots of people who don’t ride bike complain about pot holes. So this comment doesn’t make much sense to me.
There’s around 2,100 miles of streets in Portland (found on PBOT’s website). If a crew drove 10 miles every working day they should be able to cover the city in a year. One would hope that if that was done regularly maybe they could cover 20 miles or even 30 miles a day and patch as they went.
Just think how quick it could be done if 10 crews were assigned the task?
PBOT has the resources, pothole fixing isn’t glamourous enough.
How much do you think 10 crews would cost? Operating and maintenance costs on these vehicles are non-trivial. Look at the trucks present in the photos. You can’t just willy-nilly park those things on the side of the road and start working. You’ll need traffic control (variable by road type) riding along with them.
Patching a pothole costs between $250 – $500. Pretending there’s 2 potholes per mile and crews work for 200 days a year that $2,000,000. Easily within PBOT’s bloated budget.
Why folks such as yourself continue to come up with excuses why our governmental bureaus (Parks, TriMet, PBOT, etc) refuse to do their jobs (maintenance) is beyond me. We should be holding their feet to the fire and tell them to get the job done.
PBOT already has the crews, no committees or focus groups need to be formed. Just send the crew(s) out and get started.
Our streets, and the tax payers, deserve much batter from them.
My estimate is that 10 crews (3 – 4 people) *and* the equipment operating full time with well north of $2 million. Probably closer to $5 million. Remember, you’re not paying per pot hole (except for material). You’re paying full time crew worker, plus vehicle maintenance and replacement.
The reporting on PBOT ‘s financial status that I’ve read on this site suggests that they aren’t exactly flush with cash (their efficiency with the cash they have an orthogonal issue for this discussion).
https://bikeportland.org/?s=pbot+budget
Perhaps you have a link that reports that PBOT is sitting on a pile of cash and trying to think of things to do with it.
They could ticket cars parked in the wrong direction to help fund their activities.
There are passive tools that do this with scanning equipment that can be attached to the city fleet with minimal FTE impacts. RoadLens AI is deployed in New Jersey and initial results look promising.
https://roadlensai.com/
This is really cool. Thanks for the link.
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.
I simply don’t believe they don’t have the funds. I see PBOT workers in their idling trucks, with their heads in their phones, all the time. If I were in charge of PBOT, I could come up with a way to patrol for potholes given current resource constraints.
My advice is to avoid conflating idle work staff with inefficient work staff.
Working in real world engineering for any amount of time quickly teaches you that out in the field, nothing goes as planned. For all we know, that worker was waiting on office staff to double check as-built or design drawings because what they just observed didn’t match anyone’s expectations. Or maybe some equipment failed, and they’re waiting on other nearby field staff to bring them a replacement. In that case, waiting might be wayyyyyy more efficient that driving back to HQ for an otherwise nearby part. Maybe they observed unsafe working conditions and are asking management for advice.
Or maybe they were just on a break. Crews can be on shifts and not working typical 8am – 5pm hours. If someone briefly observed you at a random part of your work day, what might they see?
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.
Jonathan will appropriate any tragedy that fits his agenda.
His agenda of reducing road deaths in the city? Or did you have something else in mind?
What a terrible thing to say. Jonathan is trying to save other riders from the same fate.
Sometimes tragedies can lead to teaching moments. Is that such a bad thing?
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.
Oregon too ‘deeply libertarian‑conservative’ for you? Sounds like you’d feel right at home in Venezuela or North Korea—where the government loves controlling property and democracy isn’t really a thing. Here, voters actually capped property taxes and still get a say—radical, I know
“Oregon is a deeply libertarian-conservative state and I hate it here.”
Imagine how someone who is libertarian or conservative feels, given the utter dominance of Democrats and the overt gerrymandering that followed the 2020 census.
This is not a state-maintained road. It’s maintained by one of the most “progressive” cities in the US.
~30% of property taxes go back to cities. .
It always amazes me how an “American” can be ignorant of the most basic facts about their government.
Please take the politics-talk elsewhere. This thread doesn’t deserve this disruption.
How and why we don’t fund road repair/traffic safety is directly relevant to this tragic death and also political.
In a sense, but it’s a diversion, as introduced.
Don’t forget the 19 cents extra Portland is getting per gallon to fix our streets. Which is a total of 14 cents with thier prior tax
The road to hell willbe pavedby trying to keep driving cheap.
It’s really bad, no question. Looks like this spring it will be repaved. One place says Chavez to 50th, the map shows to 52nd.
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.
This is very sad news, and I feel awful for all those who knew Mike.
Jonathan, respectfully, I believe you should take down the video taped in the wrong direction. The initial report Monday night said crossing Division on 52nd headed south. The video is inaccurate and feels sensationalized. We simply do not know what happened.
Hi portbike.
I actually did take down the video at first. Then after thinking about it for several hours I felt like the video still had important information and visuals that were worth sharing. I made the video description clearly state the correction about direction of travel. I appreciate your feedback. I agree we do not know what happened yet but I also don’t feel my video sensationalizes anything.
This feels totally sensationalized. The “pothole” is more like a divot and there’d have to be an extremely unlikely alignment of circumstances for it to cause a fatal wreck.
I ever die on my bike, the last thing I’d want is a Maus Mob taking up my cause.
Agree. What is in the coverage most likely did not happen. People just share videos without reading the corrections. The ethical thing to do is to remove all of the posts, no matter how many hits or comments they are getting. Show respect to the family, friends, and all those mourning by removing the inaccurate reporting as it feels exploitative and invites further speculation.
I hear you. I don’t agree that my video is harmful or exploitive in any way. There’s a lot we don’t know about this crash.
and yet you are driving the conversation to still have people view it as the pothole going eastbound caused the crash. A small correction in the article while leaving up the video is not the right thing to do. I dont understand why you dont take the journalistic effort to report just the facts and get rid of the conjecture: “while the exact cause of the accident is not known, the rider was crossing Division on 52nd” simple. Instead people are still blaming the pothole. For all we know Mike had a medical event or slipped a chain and had a horrible accident.
I actually do think, given all that I continue to learn, that a medical event prior to the crash is the most plausible scenario. However, I think my story stands for when it was written and I believe it’s accurate to say the “pothole is suspected” because it is suspected as the cause by some witnesses and even the police mentioned it. Note that I’ve never said conclusively it was caused by the pothole. Bottom line, this was a messy story rollout. That happens sometimes when I try to report out quickly without having the complete fact picture. That is just part of my job and it doesn’t mean that I’m doing something untoward and I am not above making corrections when I deem them necessary. Thanks for the feedback.
basically what you are saying is “my article is most likely wrong but I wrote it and I’m gonna leave it up” like this destroys any creditability any of your stories have. What if this story is the only thing people ever see about it? shouldnt relaying the right news be more important than people seeing how you reported it at first? and isnt arguments like this taking away from Mike and his life? this should be focused on him.
Thank you Jonathan for sharing this story. I check our local news outlets each day and I hadn’t seen anything on this story. I figured since Portland is such a biking city that it would make the news (I have seen others who die via bike, escooter, pedestrian in the news).
I know that all the details are hard to find right away, as details emerge over time.
I appreciate you sharing this story. I hope through my father’s death that this will help the city keep on top of all the potholes so that nobody else dies or gets hurt. I know they immediately filled in the pothole where he crashed.
I am one of Mike’s daughters. My mom requested an autopsy, but it is up to the state medical examiner to decide whether or not they need to do that (if they cannot figure out the cause of death by a regular exam). Also, we were told that you can’t do private autopsies in the State of Oregon (I can’t remember who told us that).
He had a regular exam (not sure what all that consists of) and they concluded that he died from blunt force trauma from hitting the pavement. We were told that his front wheel hit the pothole and he flew over the handlebars of his bike and hit the pavement, face down.
I don’t have the exact verbiage from the doctor or the police, as I don’t have the reports in front of me. We are in the process of requesting the actual police report. But I was there with my mom when the medical investigator (who had conducted his own investigation, separate from the police) showed up at our house to deliver the news within hours after his death.
Sarah, I am so very sorry for your family’s loss. Your dad was a very special person and I feel lucky to have had the chance to have shared some rides (and post-ride beers) with him. He even gave me through a walkthrough of one of his houses right before it went on the market (on SE Flavel, I think?). I was always struck by his warmth and sunny nature – if someone well into middle age can have a role model, that’s what he was for me. My thoughts are with you and your family.
Sarah, whoever told you you couldn’t get a private autopsy in Oregon is incorrect. We had one after my mother died in an ambulance on her way to a Portland hospital of unknown causes after the ME decided not to do one. It did cost several thousand dollars, but it set my father’s mind at ease.
https://www.ohsu.edu/school-of-medicine/pathology/autopsy-services
Thank you for sharing! I have since found out you can. I think it was just some misunderstandings on our end, as there were a lot of people visiting at the time.
Yes, I’ve heard it can be expensive.
My family and many friends have known Mike and his family for about 50 years. The news of his untimely death is devastating. Will be supporting Laurie. Mike was an amazing human in countless ways. He will be deeply missed by all those who knew him. His life touched so many.
Looks to me as though this pothole is the result of negligent asphalt patching by a work crew that dug up the road to access water pipes, telecomm lines, and the like. They were probably in a hurry to get to happy hour and threw some cold patch on it and left it to rot and decay and eventually kill a cyclist.
I see this kind of negligence all over Portland, where crews do a terrible job of patching the pavement and no one ever holds them accountable. A few years ago I got serious about getting ODOT to fix some of the square pavement cuts on SW Barbur that had never been filled correctly. “Oh, those were telecomm crews” was the reason ODOT provided, and they took their time filling them. So why did it take a complaint to fix them? Where is the oversight to make sure all pavement cuts are filled properly the first time?
That’s not a pothole, it’s a utility cut. Not well patched either. No wonder the city got a crew out there so darn fast.
In early 2024, PBOT staff participated in a Richmond Neighborhood Association meeting and talked about the Division St reconstruction/repaving project (Chavez to 50th or 52nd…I forget which), and said it would be done in 2024/25. Crosswalk/curb extensions would be rebuilt to ADA requirements in ’24, and the reconstruction/repaving would happen in ’25. They admitted that much of the pavement on Division was so deteriorated that a reconstruction would be needed. With no action in 24/25 on the roadway, the FX buses and heavy trucks related to the Home Forward project on Clinton/45-47th, the pavement has deteriorated exponentially in the Chavez-45th segment. It’s concerning that the PBOT website for the project shows that it’s a “repaving.” With aging water/sanitary pipes, and serious pavement deterioration, a repave is a bandaid on a road needing a full replacement.
Was the rider wearing a helmet?
Yes. I confirmed this with one of the first responders.
Yes, my father was wearing a helmet and his lights. Through the medical investigator who came to our house that night, he told us he had all the proper things on and that nobody else was involved in the crash.
My dad was a serious rider. He spent his whole adulthood riding about 3 times per week. He rode across the country twice (at age 30 with a friend and at 50 with me). This route he was doing was something he did hundreds of times in the past.
Jonathan, considering your Instagram stories update that the rider was actually on 52nd and not on Division, shouldn’t you update your headline and story to reflect the fact that this was not actually caused by the pothole? Seems irresponsible to leave it up as is.
The story has a time stamp. Stories often change over time and it doesn’t mean a headline update is necessary. At this point it’s unclear what exactly caused the crash. I actually don’t think the pothole is to blame, but I’m trying to learn more before posting anything else. I disagree that my headline or reporting thus far is “irresponsible” but I will take another look and consider corrections and edits as I always do.
Appreciate the thoughtful response. I should clarify that I don’t think your reporting is irresponsible.
There was a story a few months ago about a driver who essentially had a medical issue while driving their car – they hit and killed a pedestrian before they themselves ended up crashing. I’ve heard of so many other car crashes caused by drivers having heart failure, drug overdoses, and so on. People who are shot often drop dead well away from where they were shot. Maybe this rider had a similar medical issue where the cyclist was already dying long before they got to the intersection?
From what our family has been told, he was on 52nd heading southbound towards home. It doesn’t make sense that he was over farther over from the bike lane, but we are going by what the investigators have told us.
I’d like to express my deepest sympathies to you and your families. It feels very close to home for me, as it appears that I live just a couple blocks away from Mike’s, also on Woodward near 60th, also a former regular bike commuter, same age — same month. I surely saw Mike here and there, maybe talked to him. I’m trying to put it all together. Peace to all of you.
Thank you!
So sad to hear. I was just riding around the same area with a friend on Monday night, and Mike’s name came up. Topic was “impossibly strong riders who inspire us to keep moving as we get older.”
I only rode with Mike a few times, but he was one of the most welcoming ride leaders I had met. I frequently saw him riding around town. He always seemed to smile and wave. We’ll miss you, Mike.