January 2, 2025 7:20 a.m. 

Deputies with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office were able to locate an injured bicyclist on Tuesday afternoon.

A DCSO report said the rider’s wife contacted dispatch after receiving an SOS text message from her husband, who had crashed his bicycle while riding in a wooded area near Shively Creek in southern Douglas County.

The wife advised that her husband, 56-year-old Darren Simmie, had been following the Takelma Gravel Grinder route, a 55-mile gravel route beginning at Seven Feathers Casino Resort and traveling toward the Days Creek/Tiller area logging roads before returning. She said that Simmie had sent a GPS waypoint and reported shoulder pain, describing him as confused during their communication.

Units responded to approximately milepost 5 in the Shively Creek area and began searching for Simmie. Deputies accessed multiple locked private timber gates before locating Darren Simmie on Chinook Timber Company property. A preliminary medical assessment was conducted prior to the arrival of emergency medical responders. Simmie complained of pain and exhibited blunt-force impact to the right side of his bicycle helmet. He appeared disoriented and confused and had likely suffered a concussion.

A DCSO crash reconstructionist conducted a brief scene assessment and determined that Simmie had likely struck a baseball-sized rock while descending a steep logging road, causing a speed wobble and subsequent crash in the roadway. Upon EMS arrival, Simmie was transported by ambulance to CHI Mercy Medical Center, where he is no longer a patient. Paramedics arranged for the man’s bicycle to be returned to his wife.