It was a lovely Saturday afternoon and I decided to go for a ride to the hardware store to return some items. I live in Wilsonville on the south side of the Willamette so I cross the Boone Bridge to go north. I have done this many times since moving to Portland in 1993. Today's ride would be different. Read on for a learning experience!

I ride both upright and recumbent bikes, and today I chose the recumbent. I left the house around 3:15 and approached the onramp to I-5 northbound staying close to, or on the white line as I usually do (further to the right gets into debris that causes punctures). I headed down the ramp and passed a black & white state police car. This caused me no concern since this scenario had occurred on many previous occasions.

The ramp descends onto an ingress lane that eventually merges with the other lanes of the highway after crossing over the bridge. The alignment at this point in the road curves to the East as you cross the bridge out of view of the sitting patrol car and its occupant. I rode on down the ramp and stayed within a one foot path on either side of the white line (total of two feet) avoiding as necessary any debris that looked menacing to my tires and potential loss of control due to flats and/or being knocked off track.

I was across most, if not all, of the bridge when I heard a loud bullhorn sound behind me. My first thought was that some trucker was blasting me to warn me and/or harass me as sometimes happens. The noise happened a second time so I look to see what the source was and boy was I surprised. It was the patrol car right on my tail!

I muttered to myself "what the hell does he want?" and pulled over a little farther to await the inquiry. The officer walked up to me and told me that I was not allowed on the freeway. I responded that I was and explained that I have been doing this for some years, as have other riders, and that he is the first person to question the use of the bridge to get from one exit to the other over the river. The officer insisted that regardless of what other police and/or sheriff deputies had stated, I was in violation of the law.

He requested my license, which I gave him, and took it back to the car after demanding that I "sit down" and wait for his return. I do not know what he did with my license, although I suspect he ran a check on my "lifestyle." After he returned with my license to me, he proceeded to point to some verbiage in a manual that supposedly supported his position. I insisted that it may be his position, but, in fact, he was in error.

At this point, he proceeded to lecture me about how I could be killed if a car or truck hit me, how I was "unstable" on my bike, and other items of his concern that may have been okay in another situation, but were not germane to the current situation (my recumbent may be responsive, but it is not unstable). I suggested that hitting debris on the side of the road where he suggested I should ride would be just as hazardous if I lost control of the bike due to a flat. This observation seemed to have no impact on the officer. As far as he was concerned, I was not allowed on the Interstate under any circumstance. Interestingly, enough, he felt that pedestrians were okay. This struck me as a strange paradox.

I walked my bike about 100 yards as he drove off and then proceeded on my way in the saddle to my original destination feeling a little abused and thinking that this guy should be upholding the law instead of making the law. I also thought that his comments indicated a lack of knowledge of both bicycling and rules of the road for bikers.

Upon returning to the house, I called Mike Wolfe at South Salem Cyclery and asked him about the use of the highways. He confirmed my position by citing the ODOT map and Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 734-20-045, which states that bikes are prohibited on certain sections of the Interstate system and allowed on all others. He proceeded to explain a similar event as mine that occurred on 99W near Amity earlier this year.

I called Michael Ronkin at ODOT's Bicycle and Pedestrian Program and got copies of the map and regulations to confirm the exact locations of the prohibitions and the citation for future reference should this happen to me again. I was well within my rights and well within the legal riding limits as cited in the regulations. I further confirmed my position by driving out I-205 northward to see what the signs stated at the Oregon City Bridge crossing. Just past milepost 8 at the highway 43 exit the sign warns all non-motorized users to exit at the next ramp. Just beyond the exit ramp, there is a sign stating that no non-motorized users are allowed beyond this point. A reasonable conclusion would be that bikers are allowed prior to this sign.

This further confirmed my position that the officer was wrong, did not know his law, and attempted to intimidate me into complying with his version of the law.

In conclusion, know your rights, know what to refer to when questioned, don't ride in a careless fashion, and do follow up when you have been bullied. If you don't, the offending party will continue his/her ways and may cause serious problems later.