SCHOLLS, Ore. -- A hit-and-run driver first harassed, then struck a bicyclist last weekend who was training for a charity ride to raise money for cancer research, authorities said.

KGW photo

The portion of Hwy. 219 where the bicyclist was struck.

The victim, Cindy Sharp, is a surgeon and mother of two-year-old triplets. She underwent extensive surgery Tuesday for her badly broken arm.

Sharp had been one of four cyclists descending a hill northbound on Highway 219, a little west of Scholls in Washington County, Saturday afternoon when she was hit and pushed off the road by the trailer of a pickup truck towing a boat, said Sgt. David Thompson with Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

“Someone in the passenger side threw water out the passenger side window and it hit me in the face and I thought that was going to be the end of it," Sharp said. "Then I realized they were pulling a boat on a trailer and the next thing I know, the boat trailer hit me on my left side and sent me flying off the road.”

The impact sent Sharp into the bottom of a ditch. She suffered injuries to her arms and head. Sharp said she believes the driver struck her on purpose.

KGW photo

Cindy Sharp seen in her hospital bed after undergoing surgery on her arm.

“The water throwing was certainly intentional. I would have a hard time believing the driver actually wanted to hit her, but he made absolutely no attempt to go around her,” said cycling coach and team leader John Schader.

Schader said the same boat trailer had brushed his shoulder as the vehicle passed him and came extremely close to one of the other cyclists.

The driver had been tailgating a vehicle in front of it which had safely passed the bicyclists. The driver who was tailgated had made room for the cyclists, as Oregon law requires motorists to do. There is no shoulder on that stretch of highway.

The suspect vehicle was described as a shiny red, late model pickup truck towing a very new-looking black and red ski boat, possibly a 23-foot Centurian model.

Anyone who sees the vehicle was asked to write down the license plate number and call police. The driver faces a maximum fine of $10,000 and up to five years in prison.

Sharp was riding with Team In Training, the nation's largest endurance sports training program which raises over $500 million annually to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

(KGW reporter Amy Troy contributed to this article.)