WSP probing collision that killed cyclist

The Washington State Patrol is investigating a collision that killed a cross-country bicyclist south of Davenport on Sunday.

Philip B. Smith, 56, died along state Highway 23 after a vehicle struck him from behind about 10:45 a.m. Smith, who was part of a group riding from Seattle to Washington, D.C., was pronounced dead at the scene.

The WSP will meet with the Lincoln County prosecutor this week to discuss whether any charges will be filed against the driver, Mari K. Armstrong, 31, of Harrington, Wash.

Trooper Gerry Wier said alcohol was not a factor. Armstrong, who was traveling with a young child, was so distraught that she was taken to a hospital for medical treatment, but she was otherwise uninjured, Wier said.

Smith, of Banner, Wyo., was riding with a fellow bicyclist along a straight section of the road more than 100 yards from a slight curve, Wier said. The two-lane road does not have a bike lane but does have a wide shoulder, he said.

“Obviously, a bicyclist has the same rights to be on the road as a vehicle,” he said.

Smith was traveling with a group of riders from the Adventure Cycling Association, a nonprofit organization based in Missoula. He is survived by a 17-year-old son, Victor, who was traveling in New Zealand, friends said Monday.

Smith, a small-business man and real estate agent, had previously crossed the United States on his bicycle and was an experienced road cyclist.

“He had done well over 10,000 miles of road-biking,” said his brother, Creighton Smith. “He just couldn’t get enough of it.”

Smith was a longtime member of The Well, an influential online community started in 1985.

“He was one of the people who are the social glue in the gathering,” said Gail Williams, director of the group, which is owned by Salon Media Group Inc.

Smith had a master’s degree in energy planning and was interested in sailing, cooking and desktop publishing. He memorized dozens of sea dirges and recited Lewis Carroll at gatherings of The Well.

“I think he had far too many interests to be a worldly success in the late 20th century, but he had an enormous number of friends who loved him to pieces,” Creighton Smith said.

At the time of the accident, Smith was riding an early-model recumbent bicycle, which allows the rider to be in a supine position, with the pedals at approximately the same height as the seat.

“I had ridden with (Smith) about an hour before the tragic accident, and we’d chatted about a son he was very proud of,” wrote Bill Cook, a 70-year-old retired journalist who is writing a blog about the trip for Knight Ridder Newspapers.

Cook said the highway was “one of the safest-appearing sections of road we’ve traversed so far.”