Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Cyclist Tyler Wren was on a training with his teammates from cycling team Jamis-Hagens Berman Friday morning along Valencia Road when their ride was violently interrupted by a Tucson driver who ran Wren and a coach with the team off of the road.
VeloNews.com has Wren's account of the incident:
We departed for our ill-fated training ride on Friday at 10:00 a.m., headed out of town on Valencia Road, a common thoroughfare with a generous shoulder bounded by a white line. The 15-rider group was riding two-abreast in a long line, as far to the right as possible, in full accordance with Arizona traffic law. Our team’s strength and conditioning coach Todd Herriott and I were on the front, he on my left, closest to the passing traffic. Kinkade’s tan Oldsmobile Aurora suddenly and violently impacted Todd’s left side. He and I crashed hard on the front of the group as [accused attacker Thomas Kinkade Jr.] sped away. My teammates also reported that Mr. Kinkade was shouting obscenities at us during the attack through his open car window.As Todd and I lay on the ground struggling to comprehend what had happened, my unscathed teammate Ben Jacques-Maynes sprinted past us in an impressive pursuit of the fleeing car. Ben did not manage to catch the perpetrator, but he swiftly came upon our team car, which was waiting for us at our next turn and breathlessly explained the situation to our sport director, Sebastian Alexandre. Sebastian quickly resumed the pursuit along with his serendipitous passenger, John Segesta, a professional photographer in possession of a DSLR camera with a telephoto lens. John photographed numerous cars and license plates before the pair returned to the scene of the crime for the team members to positively identify the driver and vehicle.
John nailed him — crystal clear in high-definition on his camera was a shot of Kinkade’s car and Arizona license plate. Mr. Kinkade underestimated the cohesiveness and capability of the Jamis squad. Ben and various teammates spread the word and the license plate number through social media, and within a couple hours an article appeared in the cycling press.
Read the rest of Wren's account at VeloNews.com—and for more, make sure to visit TucsonVelo.com to read Range contributor Michael McKisson's reporting of the events.
Tags: tyler wren , cycling , road rage , Jamis-Hagens Berman