Megan Barnes was sent flying 25 to 30 feet in the air after a pickup truck struck her bicycle while she was training in Saanich towards her goal of riding for Canada at the Olympics.
That is what witnesses are telling Barnes about the incident that happened Friday afternoon as she and her training partner were getting ready to climb a hill on Willis Point Road.
“I remember everything from the time I turned onto [Willis Point Road from Wallace Drive] and got hit, but I don’t remember anything between the time I got hit and when I ended up in the ditch,” said Barnes, a North Saanich resident, Sunday afternoon.
Police are currently looking for a women with blonde hair, whom witnesses say was driving the charcoal grey Dodge Dakota that hit Barnes. According to multiple accounts, the driver drove into the back of Barnes’ bicycle, then left the scene of the incident, without stopping.
“It was a wide road and there was lots of room for both of us,” said Barnes.
Sherry Barnes, Megan’s mother, struggled to hold back her anger talking about the incident on Sunday at the velodrome facility in Colwood. “As a parent right now, I can’t believe someone targeted my child and left her in the ditch,” she said. “It’s unacceptable.”
The incident left Barnes – who remembers the driver as heavy-set – with scrapes on her back and bruises on her left leg.
Perhaps less clear is the long-term effect of the incident. Tripleshot Cycling Club coach Lister Farrar said Barnes appears in “surprisingly good spirits” considering everything that happened, describing her as a “tough kid.” But he also said that the incident might exact a mental toll. “She’s going to be gun-shy [about riding] for a while,” he said.
Barnes appears aware of this possibility. “I’m hoping that it won’t impact me very much in my cycling,” she said. “I can’t tell. I have not been on the bike since [Friday].”
A national-level cyclist, Barnes plans to compete for Canada, possibly at the Summer Olympic Games in 2024. “I’m hoping that this hit-and-run won’t impact my goal.”
Since word of the incident spread, two other Greater Victoria men who are competitive cyclists have reported that they experienced a similar aggressive driving incident in the area, with a vehicle that may match the description of the truck involved in Friday’s hit-and-run.
Farrar said one of the two men crashed into the back of the truck when the driver slammed on the brakes after overtaking the riders. The second rider rode after the vehicle and took a snapshot of the licence plate, which he passed on to police.
“There is an element of the motoring public that feels that cyclists don’t have a right,” Farrar said. “You’ve got to give your head a shake, you’re driving a one-ton vehicle and you’re going to threaten someone dressed in sports clothes and running shoes? It just doesn’t make any sense at all that people have that kind of road rage.”
Farrar said he is now hopeful that people will come forward with information about the driver and the vehicle, which broke the back axle of Barnes’ bike.
Barnes said she did not see the truck approach her from behind. “I was focused on getting up Willis Point Road,” she said.
The hit propelled Barnes through the air and down a grassy embankment, where she came to rest. Farrar said Barnes was lucky, as the grass dampened the impact.
Her doctor has told Barnes to get plenty of rest. Barnes is also working through what happened to her. “I’m getting used to the fact that I have been hit by a car.”
With files from Don Descoteau