Remember that road-rage incident last week involving a bicyclist who police say spit at a van that got a little too close for comfort over on NE 20th and Irving, and then got into a scuffle with the van’s occupants?
Apparently the mother of the bicyclist, Glen Glans, 34, wrote a letter into the O last week to protest her son’s treatment by the media and all you voracious, evil media commenters. It’s cute, a mother’s love. Here it is on display.
I am amazed at the rude, threatening & disrespectful comments posted about this article that gave minimal and erroneous information about the incident that left readers with just enough information to trigger their imaginations according to their predetermined mindset about bicyclists.
The “bicyclist” involved is my son who was simply on his way to work when he was cut off the road by yet another motorist who either wasn’t paying attention or doesn’t believe that bicyclists deserve a share of the road. He chooses to ride his bike to work rather than contribute to the pollution and/or save some money on gas/insurance payments.
He admits that spitting at the car was a mistake but, after numerous incidents, such as this one, over the years in which he has been cut off the road, knocked off his bike and actually pulled by his shirt off of his bike by a motorist, thrown to the ground & left unconscious and hospitalized, he gave into his frustration and acted on it! Seriously, can you blame him?
Are people aware that they are driving lethal weapons? Wouldn’t it be fair to have both sides of the story before printing it and putting my son through these accusations and acts of hatred by people that have absolutely no idea who he is let alone what really happened? This is not behavior that he engages in on a regular basis and this article was a set up for him to be harassed, threatened, verbally abused and who knows what is yet to come.
A mother disappointed in the media and worried about her son.
Glans, since arraigned on an assault charge, told KGW he was defending himself. But I kept thinking back to Sarah Mirk’s recent Q&A with bike-law expert Ray Thomas. His biggest piece of advice: Don’t be a prick. But then again with a name like Glans (possibly NSFW), what choice does he have?
I have known Glen since we were in middle school in Southern Oregon and he works across the street from me here in Portland. He is timid, respectful and a pretty damn nice guy. I also know his mother who wrote this letter.
I talked to him the day after the incident and he is very aware that his reaction led to the van occupants confronting him, but as mentioned in this letter, he has been hospitalized in similar circumstances and used bad judgment when he spit. He said as much to me.
I have to wonder why he was arrested and not the two people in the van who pulled over and got out to start shit only to be met with a very scared Glen staring down two folks, one of whom ran at him according to what he told me. Of course he grabbed his bike lock in that situation and of course he took off outnumbered like that.
I’m not saying both parties aren’t in the wrong here, I’m just saying there are some weird-ass things at play here.
Seriously, if you and your friend get out of a moving vehicle to start shit, then get your ass beat, then call the cops because you got your ass beat… you’re a fucking douchebag.
I, too, am a mild-mannered regular cyclist who obeys traffic laws, rides respectfully and practices safe riding (lights, helmet, etc.).
It occurs to me more than once a week that someday I’ll likely hit a “breaking point” with all the negligence and nastiness I see on the road. Scary thought, but I understand the guy’s frustration. It’s bad out there.
I am amazed … that a 34-year-old man would spit on a driver (although he’s got a criminal history)
I’m not amazed that the mommy who raised him has to fight his battles. Can we blame him she asks? Maybe we should blame her.
Wow, really, in a two versus one situation, the one get’s punished? That is completely ridiculous! There goes my fantasy that one day I will get to beat up someone because it’ll be justified by the fact that I’d be the underdog defending my life. DAMN.
thanks denis for making fun of this guy’s name, actually adding insult to injury. great reporting, i’ll be sure to write a letter to your editor.
As a cyclist that commutes year-round and has done so in MUCH larger cities than Portland, you kids gotta cycle with your head screwed on right. I rarely have a problem on the road. Make smart choices. Ride on less traveled streets. If you choose to ride on NE 20th (I’m just saying) get in gear and ride at the speed of traffic. Otherwise, GTFO. Yes, yes, yes…we have rights. But we’re gonna loose a car/bike fight every time. I really wish there was some way to impress upon the nice lady in the Honda putting on her makeup in the morning that if she ACCIDENTALLY swerves I’m gonna die. I Know your rights, don’t be stupid and stay alive.
While the the local bike community takes entitlement ot new heights, Glen Glans was physically threatened, and nearly physically harmed. Is the Mercury really blaming the victim?
And really, Mirk, just because you work with a bunch of mental prepubescents, a glans joke? I’m sure Glen’s never heard that one before…gu-faw…
I was involved in a very similar incident a few years back. I was in the bike lane here: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q…
When a truck with a trailer in the lane to the left of me pulled up and started to turn into the BK lot. I had this truck in front of me, I couldn’t go around to the left due to his trailer blocking, to the right (there was traffic coming from behind also turning right.) and as I got up to him he’s yelling at me to get out of the way. I yell back where did he expect me to go?
So we’re yelling and I eventually pass, he floors it and parks in the BK lot and I can see him running over to me with a buddy (at this point I’m in front of the Good Will.) I’m shaking, as I pretty much expected to be smashed via the truck/traffic, and to have this guy screaming at me was over the top, and then to have him charge at me, well fuck. He comes over and screams in my face that if I ever do that again he won’t be so nice and stop.
The funny thing was, I think we were both in the right. It’s a shitty intersection, his truck was too big to turn right from the right lane safely, and there is/was absolutely nowhere a biker can go safely in that area.
I generally avoid that route now, as I’ve had several other close calls there.
As for this mother, it’s a tad too late now, but the Oregonian comments are about the most trollish it gets around here towards bikers, so I’m not surprised she took the bait and lost.
@Joaniehateschachi: What does Sarah Mirk have to do with this article? Grow a brain and look at the by-line.
@graham cmon, obv association, bikey story in merc = smirk post. roll derp, homie.
Joanie – please try to respond to posts on the correct topic.
Glens was the one who made it physical first. He was the one who elevated the situation resulting in his arrest for assault.
Spitting on the side of a van is physically starting a confrontation but purposefully swerving at a bicyclist and then purposefully crowding him out of the bike lane at the next red light isn’t physically starting a confrontation?
D, you are the one who needs to respond with some sense.
Just because Glen came clean that he, OH MY GOD, spit on the side of a car and the cowards who called the cops aren’t being truthful about what they did to prompt Glen to do that doesn’t mean the liars are in the right.
@ McAngryPants +10.
^ and that. Glen was stupid.
I don’t disagree about the swerving part, but it follows that if there was evidence of it they’d of faced charges too.
You offer no proof to refute said “lies.”
And it doesn’t say he spit on a car. He is accused of spitting on a person through an open window – a major difference.
I obviously wasn’t there, am biased and believe Glen’s version of events as conveyed to me by him… obvs.
Oh, and yes, he says it was NOT in the window because the van had swerved over so the front was up against the curb in order to cut off his access so he yelled at the dude and received a rude gesture. He was at the side-rear of the van because he couldn’t get around and spit on the side of the van. Allegedly.
spit on van, shining
intimacy on the street
vive le glen glans
love tongue for your van
you move too fast and heavy
clumsy flying spit
For their safety maybe we should restrict bike to bike street only, require insurance and bike permits for operators over 18. They already do that for human powered boats in oregon
@Rosy
That is a completely fucking retarded idea. Then kids wouldn’t be able to ride bikes. Are you gunna fine 5 year olds on training wheel BMXs for biking without a license? Also, Bike-only streets may be in residential neighborhoods. How are you going to make sure that the cars on those streets belong in those neighborhoods. Or are you gunna make residents give up their cars?
I personally, have nothing to prove by riding on streets with heavy traffic. When I don’t have an alternative to a busy street, I use the sidewalks- yeah, it’s illegal but I ain’t gunna get into these kinds of street hassles. I shouldn’t have to, and neither should this cat, Glen. He’s an unfortunate victim in the evolution of Bicycle/Car traffic. I’d like to see the day, when both sides understand how the other can get from A to B safely, without silly incidents, that ain’t gunna happen next week. So in the meantime, FUCK YOU- you’re in a two-ton polluter machine that takes minimal effort to operate and these streets are just as much ours as they our yours. You’re damn right I feel entitled! Until they completely ban bike travel, I am entitled to my choice of transport. And more importantly, I am entitled to my life.
I have been a daily bike commuter for the past 8 or so years and have never got in fight with a driver. Yes there have been tense words, but I have noticed that if you just keep on going and thanking your lucky stars you didn’t get killed by the irresponsible jerk in the car you just don’t have to fight. Ray’s advice is the best, don’t be a jerk. Also if you are sick and tired of poor bike infrastructure and shitty driving get involved in the effort to make our city an even better place to ride.
@TageSavage – Kids can ride bikes just like kids get a free pass on human powered boats. The license and insurance requirement comes once you hit 18. That way you know that when you have a bike accident your medical care will be taken care of, when you run down a walker their medical care will be taken care of, and when you run the stop on the hill and go through a car windscreen their medical bills will be taken care of.
It is very easy to see who can drive on the street because you are supposed to tell DMV when you move within 30 days and they give you a sticker for your car license.
Please read the bike law handbook that Smirk was flogging because you can go on the sidewalks at walker speeds.
Because Portland has calmed (slowed) the arterials I noticed that the new hybred nav system on zipcars kept sending me to the bike streets because they move faster.
Glen Glans once spat on my cock!
Glen Glans is a spitting fool! I once watched him spit off the Morrison bridge for over a hour! I think the dude in the van got off lightly! I hear he practices by spitting on his cock in the shower!
I have seen Glen Glans spit into Carne Asada burrito’s at his taco stand and then pass em off to unsuspecting children! Those little tikes don’t deserve aging hipster drool in there tummies! For shame! Shame on you Mr. Glans! I weep for the children that have consumed your tainted taco’s!
@lorenzolanduso: Why the need to demoralize Glen w/your nasty, dishonest, demented comments? Do you not have anything better; more constructive to do w/your time than to post sick comments to an already distorted issue? Might be a better idea for you to get a life and quit displaying your ignorance and, clearly, one track mind for the world to see!
@D: He DOES NOT have a “criminal history!” A few citations (listed as “infractions”) do not constitute a “criminal history.” I am not, nor do I feel a need to, “fight his battles” and, if you want to blame me, go ahead, but I am trusting that, in the end, the truth WILL come out and blame w/be placed where it belongs!
I may have “taken the bait” but I don’t feel like I “lost” anything by simply expressing my opinion. The “trolls” are entitled to theirs as well as ludicrous and outlandish as they may be!
String him up by his britches! he is nothing but a dirty ROLLERBLADER!
Hey draketl, why dont you spit into your rosey palm and give me a HJ!
Wow, I wonder what your life is like, Lorensolanduso, if you spend your time being so blatantly disrespectful to people in comment forums. “Spit into your rosey palm and give me a HJ?” Not only are you not funny, you are a disgusting misogynist of the worst kind; a trifling, sad internet predator. My advice is to get up, follow Glen’s lead, and find a job as soon as possible. I really hope you have a car so you don’t ride your bike there. And please make sure your job is not in comedy because you clearly lack chops.
Another thing- McAngryPants, one of the only routes to cross over to NE from SE Portland is along 20th Ave, which passes over I-84. Irving St. is very close to this overpass, so as much caution Glen was using during this incident to use bike paths, this section of 20th is heavily used by both bikes and cars… and motorcycles, pedestrians etc.
Glen shouldn’t have to serve as Portland’s cover boy for what all of us in Portland can recognize as a longstanding dispute between bikes and cars. These incidents happen all the time. How this one situation has attracted so much attention is strange. As a bystander, I have witnessed two similar incidents in the last month. The intensity of the bike vs. car debate in Portland seems to have become our version of the Sharks vs. the Jets. Cryps vs. Bloods. Montegue vs. Capulet. We’ve all heard this story before, and already know the ending. Nobody enjoys commutes, by foot, bike or car. So as a city, we should just try to cool it, because the intensity surrounding the bike vs. car debate in Portland is ridiculous and when you think about it, pretty embarrassing. Think about all our kids in Iraq and Afghanistan, and then complain about the bike that annoyed you on your way to work, or the driver that flipped you off. And lay off Glen for gods sake, if you weren’t there then you don’t know what actually happened and it’s not your issue. Thanks for reading.
Thank you, mgz! How this guy gets away with being so disgusting in a public comment board is beyond me! How some people can actually speak to someones Mother in such a disrespectful and rude manner is reprehensible!
Your comment is one of the most rational I’ve read and is appreciated by a Mother who knows the truth about the incident. Unfortunately, he’s paying the consequences based on lies! I guess we live and learn and pay for our lessons in many ways!