Several days ago I saw a post on the River City Bicycles Instagram account that showed all the employees receiving CPR training. At the time, I didn’t think much of it — other than noting what it says about shop owner Dave Guettler and his commitment to having a well-trained staff. River City is a Portland institution, one of the best bike shops in America, and Dave is its beloved leader.
Then through the grapevine I began to hear about a recent heart attack Dave suffered while on a ride. I figured I’d get the full story soon enough, but then yesterday, a press release from the American Heart Association dropped into my inbox. “It was supposed to be an ordinary Sunday bike ride,” the press release begins. Here’s more about what happened:
“Dave Guettler and Tia Sherry, owners of River City Bicycles, had pedaled nearly 25 miles into Oregon’s scenic Gorge, chatting about lunch plans and soaking in the beauty of quiet country roads lined with towering trees and fields. For two lifelong cyclists, this was bliss.
Then, in an instant, everything changed.
Dave’s bike began to drift left. At first, Tia thought he was pulling over for a break. But then he went off the road into a ditch and somersaulted over a six-foot wire fence, landing in a cow pasture. When Tia finally reached him after clawing her way over the fence, Dave was gray, his lips blue, his eyes rolled back. He wasn’t breathing. He had no pulse.”
Thank god Tia (a former co-director of The Street Trust) was there and was trained in CPR! Dave is out of the hospital and on the road to recovery (it’s his second trip to the ICU from a bike crash since his run-in with a truck driver on NE Sandy back in 2023). And in typical Dave fashion, he set up a training for 75 employees and friends recently at River City Bicycles.
“We want everyone to learn CPR,” Dave told the American Heart Association. “If Tia hadn’t known what to do, I wouldn’t be here.”
Read more via the American Heart Association.
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The unstoppable Dave Guettler, heal fast and well sir.
So good to hear he will be ok.
just the nicest guy, glad to hear he’s on the mend!
Everyone who feels capable should take CPR training. Great to hear that he had someone with him who could help.
A useful reminder of our need to be able to take care of each other. But the “thank god” exclamation seems a bit over the top — it wasn’t god that intervened. It was a well-trained person. Let’s be appropriately thankful for that. And for the fact that River City employees may now be equipped to save more lives in the future!
Does it seem over the top? Really? Might want to read that again without bias to see that the “thank god” referred to her being there….with her training that she enacted on her own.
I’m a longtime atheist and the “thank god” bit didn’t even register with me. It’s a figure of speech. Much like someone reading something ridiculous online and muttering to himself, “Jesus Christ.”
Forget it, Mark. It’s Bike Portland. (Apologies to the film “Chinatown”.)
Glad to hear Dave pulled through — that must’ve been a terrifying moment, and massive credit to Tia for knowing CPR and jumping straight in. That kind of quick thinking saves lives.
But honestly Lois, taking a swipe at someone saying “thank god” feels a bit unnecessary. For a lot of people it’s just a natural way of expressing relief or gratitude, not a theological thesis. Let folks have a bit of humanity and even a touch of spirituality in moments like this. No harm in being thankful for skilled people and feeling grateful in a broader sense.
Anyway, the main thing is Dave’s still with us — that’s the real win. Cheers to Tia, the CPR training, and to Dave making a solid recovery. Good on ’em
I often think about what would happen if I myself had “The Big One” while out on a ride. I always ride alone so I’d be completely at the mercy of strangers to notice me and to help.
I took CPR years ago but really need a refresher. Thanks for the reminder.
Good job, Tia!!!!!!
Also, get well soon, Dave!
Wow. I saw the same cpr training post and was surprised to some degree. Amazing that he is ok and had help and his instinct was to make more helpers. Good move. Keep it ticking Dave!
It would be great for more cyclists to know CPR. I was with a group that performed CPR for around 15 minutes on someone that we saw collapse at Bridge Pedal years ago, and they survived! It is super easy to learn BLS. Hands on, in person, practice at a training session is great, but if that is not available, a 2 minute up to date training video is better than nothing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZqG-tcZvfE
Yes! CPR and basic first aid knowledge can be a literal lifesaver.
In Germany, everyone has to do a first aid/CPR class to get a drivers license
and every car has to carry a first aid kit (which came in handy when our daughter needed some first aid stuff at a track bike training). Maybe it could be made mandatory for every highschool student (after all they have to take a health class), or something like that.
I’d add passing a swim test as well. And maybe also learning to read and do basic math, but that’s so pre-pandemic.
Dave’s story sounds like two other people I know who’ve had heart attacks–fit, not particularly old, and happened without doing anything that was unusually strenuous.
My two friends both had symptoms well before they had the full-blown attack, but didn’t know they were heart attack symptoms.
Oh. My. Goidnesse! I’m so thankful to read the happy ending! Thank you for all you do!
Dave, I’m overjoyed everything worked out well! Cheers to you!
I can relate, here’s my story…
May 31, 2023 while riding with PBC in the west hills of Portland, I was on a descent and experienced sudden cardiac death. I did not have a heart attack, I did not have a blockage, I had ischemia. From when I started the descent, I don’t remember anything for three weeks from that time; although, there are numerous photos of what happened.
The cyclists I was riding with started CPR immediately, which is the only reason why I can write this vs. drooling in a corner. I spent a week in 11K at OHSU (Cardiac ICU). Dr. told me that only 7% of sudden cardiac death victims survive and from that 7% a very small percentage retain cognitive abilities because CPR starts late or is ineffective. I received effective and immediate CPR and the EMTs arrived in 15 minutes to take over.
That was just the cardiac part. The trauma from dying while descending was significant. Broken neck, right side facial bones around the eye all broken. They had to cut around my eye to relieve the swelling from damaging my optic nerve, and required later surgery to put it back All right side ribs were broken, lost most hearing on the right, severe concussion, and a lot of road rash. My fellow riders told me they had never seen such a dramatic crash. And River City could see the scars on my Tarmac.
Turns out I needed a triple CABG (bypass, pronounced cabbage). Surgery had to wait, they can’t do CABG with a broken neck because of the tubes they put down your throat. Neck healed nicely over a few months and open heart surgery was done, back in OHSU 11K for a week.
Then, you can’t ride a bike until the sternum mends because holding handlebars puts stress on the sternum. It was a long process, but all is good now and I’m riding with PBC, PV, and Cyclepath as hard and far as ever. OHSU does an echo yearly to make sure my CABG is patent and everything is working properly. I rode nearly 10,000 miles, climbed 500,000 feet, and did 8 centuries in 2025.
Wow.
Wow! Thank you Mark for sharing your story!
Your story is super inspiring — appreciate you sharing!
Thank you for doing this story! I am so glad to hear that Tia was there and able to save Dave’s life with CPR. I am so glad this worked out the way it did. I worked with Tia at The Street Trust, she was always a super positive person, so smart and capable. So given that her ability here in this situation is not surprising. Again, I am so glad to hear this ending to this situation.
Wow! I dont think I’ve formally met Dave, but I’ve seen him on a few climbs around Portland and I love his shop. Stoked to hear that they are getting CPR training to outdoor folks. Incredible story!
RCB is offering CPR classes to the cycling community for half off ($25):
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cycling-community-cpr-training-with-rcb-tickets-1984439166968
Just read this… Get Well Dave!!!
Get Well Dave!!!!
Well, she did a whole lot better than I did, in a similar situation. About 25 years ago, rolling into town after a 60-mile ride with a friend. He said ‘Steve, I don’t feel so good; I am going to pull over and rest for a minute’. I was a mile from home, he looked fine, and told me to go on home. Next morning, I walk into my local bike shop, and they say ‘Did you hear about xxxx?’ He had a massive heart attack yesterday, and is getting a triple bypass today. Luckily for him, the owner of the house that we stopped in front of, came out after a few minutes, threw him into his car and drove him to the ER. I can only imagine what might have happened otherwise. I felt really guilty. So, his symptoms were not alarming, no drama, although, in retrospect, pretty odd. I now know that cardiac stuff can have many different presentations. I have had tachycardia, and it presents as increased HR to 150+, so I just have to slow down on a ride until it comes down. My doc said it is not dangerous, just annoying, and I have had two ablations in 10 years, which fix it for awhile. But, when it happened once on a group ride, I lied and said my knee hurt and I was going to ride slower. I did not want everybody to freak out if I told them I was having a heart event and having to explain that it was not an emergency.
Dave helped my wife and I on our tadem years ago. We were out on the 205 and our chain broke on our vintage Kuwahara—white with a rainbow motif. He came to our rescue and had a chain break, pretty awesome (he just happened to be riding by)! I hope he has a speedy recovery, thanks Dave!