Keihachi Ishikawa loves to ride along the abandoned E&N Railway line on Vancouver Island. The 78-year-old even made a special rig for his bike to do it.
“There’s a lot of fun, you know, like nobody on the track and nice and quiet, you know, you can see the birds and the rabbits and you know there’s lot of wild animals right out there,” he told Global News.
However, on Aug. 2, when he was returning to his home and turning left on Departure Bay Road, he said three people on motorcycles were behind him and he felt someone shove him on his shoulder.
“Guy yelled at me, ‘Get off the F road’ and then push me so hard,” Ishikawa said.
“So that’s what had happened. I stayed on the right-hand side of the road all the way down to that point and then crossed the Departure Way Road in order to turn left. I did not cut him off or anything like that. I was just about to turn to the left, that’s what happened.”
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Ishikawa said it happened so fast.
He ended up on the other side of the road, crashed into the curb and fell over.
The incident was caught on camera and posted to a local Facebook page. Ishikawa said he has seen the video.
“It’s a bad crash,” he said.
“I’m surprised anybody survived that. Well, I’m (an) ex-skydiver and I guess my quick reactions. I’m not sure how I did it.”
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Harlunn Anderson filmed the incident and stopped to help Ishikawa after he crashed.
He shared his video on Facebook.
“The biker came up and pushed the guy over, and he lost control and face-planted into the sidewalk from that,” he said.
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“We were kind of torn between chasing him down to get the licence plate. But we didn’t want to leave the man there by himself. So we pulled over.”
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Anderson said the victim did not say much at the time.
“He didn’t talk much, he just looked kind of defeated and upset,” he said.
“He refused to call an ambulance, but there were two nurses on site there, so he’s in good hands. I don’t know if he had a concussion or what, but he was just a little banged up.”
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Const. Sherri Wade with Nanaimo RCMP confirmed to Global News that around 8:15 p.m. on Aug. 2, a cyclist called them to say he had been pushed by a motorcyclist and ended up falling onto the curb.
She said he was travelling down Departure Bay Road and three motorcyclists were behind him.
“He was trying to turn left and he was pushed and his bike, he lost his balance and he ended up crossing into oncoming traffic and then fell (up) the curb,” Wade said.
“He had, thankfully, he only had minor scrapes. And a little bit of rash burn, but he was able to walk away.”
Wade said they have had cases before between cyclists and motorists but not between a cyclist and a motorcyclist.
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“Because the video was turned over to the police and also put on social media, we did get numerous calls where people recognized the motorcycles,” she added.
“So the police were able to identify the owner of the motorcycle, and he actually spoke to the police. He called in to the detachment on Aug. 3 because he had seen the video, and he said he was not aware that the person had fallen, that he put out his hand to avoid a collision, and it was only when he saw the video on social media that he realized the cyclist had fallen. So he called in himself and provided his name and phone number.”
Marcel Trudeau, who used to run Abbies Corner Store in Nanaimo, confirmed to Global News he was riding with his kids at the time.
He declined an interview but claimed the cyclist shot right in front of him and cut him off, causing him to slam his brakes.
He said he put his hand up and touched the cyclist to avoid a collision.
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Trudeau also claimed he was not aware the cyclist fell over until he saw the video on social media.
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“That is a big freaking big lie,” Ishikawa said.
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“It’s just a lie, out lie. He tried to get away from what he did. I made this rig. My first design criteria is not to impede the traffic and the Departure Way Road is wide enough, even if I’m on a left-hand side road, even big trucks can pass me and a motorcycle, there’s no problem, none whatsoever.”
Last April, the B.C. government made several updates to the Motor Vehicle Act, including a new minimum distance of one metre that drivers must maintain when passing cyclists and other vulnerable road users. That distance increases to 1.5 meters on highways with a posted speed limit above 50 km/h.
“As cyclists, we do need to act as if we’re a vehicle, but we also need to be very aware of our situation and our surroundings and act as people can’t see us,” Wade said.
“And I always recommend that cyclists never assume that someone knows what you’re going do. Because usually the driver’s not thinking about it or maybe has only seen you at the last minute. So we wanna drive like we are a vehicle on the road, but we are not, and we are much more vulnerable.”
Megan Stokes is a lifelong cyclist and loves biking on Vancouver Island.
She drove by with her kids right after Ishikawa crashed.
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“It was pretty heart-wrenching to think somebody would do that to somebody,” she told Global News.
Stokes said other vehicles on the road sometimes give cyclists a lot of space and some do not.
“Just completely senseless, like, you know, constantly in the news, there’s accidents between bikers and cars and it’s hard,” she said.
“People want to get out and be active and be on their bikes and that’s safety for them and you know the cars that can’t wait the 30 seconds to pass you, who’ve got to blow by, it’s scary sometimes.”
Ishikawa said he is thankful he was wearing a helmet and so many people stopped to help.
“(In) less than a minute there’s a whole bunch of people around me, you know, helping me and then I couldn’t thank enough for those people,” he said.
“I believe in the society, I live in a good city, a few bad apples like this sucker, you know, do bad things.”
RCMP is investigating the incident and no charges have been laid.