Bryce Barker, of Berthoud, faces felony menacing, harassment and criminal mischief charges. He appeared in court on Tuesday.

Cyclist Joseph Stevens told police that on July 18, Barker drove up alongside three cyclists while they were riding on a county road near Berthoud.

“We were at a friend’s 65th birthday party,” Stevens said. “We’d gone on a 65 mile ride and were returning to Loveland when the driver pulled up.”

“He told us he was tired of us old guys from Boulder hogging the road,” said Stevens, a Fort Collins resident.

The cyclist said that when one of his friends tried to go around him, Barker grabbed an aluminum bat, and started swinging.

“I stepped off the left side of my bike and held it up for protection,” Stevens said. “He swung and hit my bike.”

The stunned cyclist said he dropped his bike and stepped back.

“I was flabbergasted,” he told 7NEWS. “I didn’t know what was happening.”

Stevens added that when another motorist stopped, Barker backed off, but not before striking the bicycle two more times.

Stevens said his bike was a 2008 Trek carbon fiber frame worth $4,800. It was destroyed.

After deputies identified Barker as the driver, they talked to him at his home. He told them cyclists attacked him after ramming into his car.

The front, driver’s side window of Barker’s car is covered with black plastic wrap.

But Stevens said Barker likely broke his own window because investigators didn’t find broken glass at the scene.

Barker’s attorney, Timothy O’Keefe sent a statement to 7NEWS that said in part, “It is our position… that law enforcement did not sufficiently investigate or evaluate eyewitness accounts, nor Mr. Barker’s assertions of self defense.”

O’Keefe said Stevens' account of what happened is not accurate.

He also said that his client wouldn’t be submitting to any interviews.

Stevens said the incident has changed his outlook on riding.

“It’s made me nervous now, riding on the road,” Stevens said. “When I hear a car coming up behind me, I feel the anxiety increasing.”

The bicyclist said drivers, cyclists and pedestrians need to educate themselves about the rules of the road.

“Follow the rules and try to get along,” he said.