COEUR d'ALENE - A 64-year-old Post Falls man will spend 10 days in jail for his role in a confrontation he had with two bicyclists along a rural roadway in September 2011.

Larry G. Jones on Thursday was sentenced in a Kootenai County courtroom for battery, a misdemeanor. Jones was found guilty at trial of stopping his pickup truck, exiting it and then hitting or pushing one of the cyclists down a road embankment.

He's also charged with aggravated assault, a felony, for the incident, in which he's accused of using his truck to intimidate the cyclists. A trial is scheduled for that charge later this month.

Judge Robert Caldwell gave Jones 180 days in jail with 170 days suspended for the battery. Caldwell also ordered that Jones serve a year of probation.

Jones was handcuffed and taken into custody following the hearing.

The victim of the battery, Lukas D. O'Dowd, 32, of Coeur d'Alene, spoke before Caldwell handed down the sentence. O'Dowd said he found Jones' actions on Sept. 15, 2011, "repulsive."

O'Dowd said he feels fortunate to be alive.

The confrontation occurred along Fernan Lake Road, where O'Dowd had been riding regularly each week with his father-in-law.

On the day of the incident, Jones had been driving his Chevy Silverado along the same road and came upon O'Dowd and his father-in-law from behind.

O'Dowd and his father-in-law were traveling about 35 mph downhill, the men told investigators, according to documents filed in court.

O'Dowd told investigators they were using all of the right lane, and were close to the centerline as they came around a curve in the road.

Jones is accused of going around the cyclists and then turning into O'Dowd and then slamming on his brakes. He has pleaded not guilty.

The road is cut into the hillside at that point, with the right edge about five to 10 feet away from the rock face of the hillside.

O'Dowd has said that any departure from the road on that side would likely be deadly at the speeds they were traveling.

Jones allegedly turned into O'Dowd at two different points along the road and slammed on his brakes, forcing O'Dowd to make dangerous stops. At both points, O'Dowd told investigators, Jones got out of his truck to confront O'Dowd.

The second time, Jones punched O'Dowd and forced him over an embankment on the other side of the road. That part of the incident led to the battery charge.

Jones has said he didn't attempt to run O'Dowd off the road. He also has said the bicyclists wouldn't let him pass and were being rude. He said he followed them for a mile before he felt safe passing.

During sentencing Thursday, Kootenai County Deputy Prosecutor Ken Brooks said, "It's extremely fortunate that we're only here on a battery."