Skip Ad Ad Loading... x Embed x Share KALAMAZOO BICYCLISTS FATALLY STRUCK Bicyclists pay respects where 5 were killed north of Kalamazoo | 4:34 Bicyclists pay respects where 5 were killed north of Kalamazoo. Video by Robert Allen/DFP 1 of 4 Skip Ad Ad Loading... x Embed x Share KALAMAZOO BICYCLISTS FATALLY STRUCK 5 bicyclists killed in Kalamazoo | 2:29 Five bicyclists were killed when a pickup truck driver plowed into them in Kalamazoo Tuesday, June 7, 2016. 2 of 4 Skip Ad Ad Loading... x Embed x Share KALAMAZOO BICYCLISTS FATALLY STRUCK Kalamazoo police address deadly bicyclist crash | 15:55 Kalamazoo police address deadly bicyclist crash 3 of 4 Skip Ad Ad Loading... x Embed x Share KALAMAZOO BICYCLISTS FATALLY STRUCK Raw video from scene of deadly bicyclist crash in Kalamazoo | 0:31 Raw video from scene of deadly bicyclist crash in Kalamazoo 4 of 4 Last VideoNext Video Bicyclists pay respects where 5 were killed north of Kalamazoo 
 
 5 bicyclists killed in Kalamazoo 
 
 Kalamazoo police address deadly bicyclist crash 
 
 Raw video from scene of deadly bicyclist crash in Kalamazoo 
 
 Lance Armstrong, centre, and members of the team for former England football international Geoff Thomas, not pictured, pedal during the charity ride "Le Tour, One Day Ahead," Friday, July 17, 2015, between Rodez and Mende central France. While the Tour de France is going on, Armstrong takes part to a charity ride called "Le tour-One Day Ahead" with the goal of raising money to cure Leukemia. Former English footballer who won nine caps for England soccer team, Geoff Thamas was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2003 and he founded the the Geoff Thomas Foundation to raise funds to fight the disease. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau) (Photo: Lionel Cironneau, AP) 
 
 Lance Armstrong said he was "in complete disbelief" when he heard of the tragic crash near Kalamazoo that left five cyclists dead and four others injured. 
 
 On Tuesday, to honor those who lost their lives, Armstrong plans to join Kalamazoo-area cyclists to finish the ride their friends and loved ones started. 
 
 This is "by far the worst that I've ever seen," Armstrong said of the tragedy in an interview with the Free Press today. 
 
 A 50-year-old Battle Creek man, Charles Edward Pickett Jr., is facing second-degree murder and other charges. He is accused of driving a pickup into the nine cyclists as they rode in Cooper Township on Tuesday. 
 
 "For me, this is pretty heavy, thinking the fact that we're going to complete the ride that they set out to is, I'm not sure that I'm equipped for that emotionally," Armstrong said. 
 
 Armstrong, who said a fear of being struck by a vehicle is one all cyclists share, said he even plans to grab a beer with the cyclists at their favorite "watering hole" afterward. 
 
 His decision to travel to Kalamazoo for the ride comes after an emotional Instagram message he posted after the tragedy. Unable to shake his feelings about the crash, he wrote: "To the ones lost — may you rest in peace. To their friends, families, teammates, partners — my deepest condolences." 
 
 The cyclists were part of a group called the Chain Gang, which regularly gathered to ride. 
 
 Killed in the crash were Augusta residents Debra Bradley, 53, Melissa Fevig-Hughes, 42, and Suzanne Sippel, 56, and Kalamazoo residents Fred Anton (Tony) Nelson, 73, and Lorenz J. (Larry) Paulik, 74. Injured were Richland residents Sheila Jeske, 53, Paul Gobble, 47, and Paul Runnels, 65, and Kalamazoo resident Jennifer Johnson, 40. 
 
 Loved ones continue to mourn those killed, while the survivors begin healing. 
 
 A spokesman for Borgess Medical Center said Johnson remains in fair condition and Gobble is in serious condition. On Friday, a Bronson Healthcare spokeswoman said Runnels was in fair condition. 
 
 Ray Jeske said his wife, Sheila, was cycling with the group that day along with two close friends — Bradley and Sippel. Sheila Jeske is recovering from injuries, including surgery on her left ankle, her husband told the Free Press. 
 
 "She's very strong," Ray Jeske said. 
 
 Authorities have not said what they believed caused Pickett to crash into the cyclists. 
 
 Bradley's family released a statement expressing their appreciation for the outpouring of love. 
 
 "We feel blessed that she was so greatly loved, the expressions continue to provide our family comfort. This is an immensely difficult time for us," the statement said. "We respectfully ask that our family is allowed to grieve and plan in peace." 
 
 Bradley, her obituary says, was fierce and loyal and giving. 
 
 "She took no hesitance to defend those who would not or could not take a stand," the obituary, posted on the Farley Estes & Dowdle Funeral Home's website, says about Bradley, who it says had been a nurse, mother and wife. "Debbie, a defender and protector ... the core character defining her. Not just for those she loved and who love her but for those who were blessed to cross her path." 
 
 Bradley's obituary says she was a "bike enthusiast." 
 
 That is true, as well, for Suzanne Sippel. 
 
 Her obituary, also on the Farley Estes & Dowdle Funeral Home's website, says she loved cycling and the outdoors. It says Sippel worked as a data manager on sustainable agriculture research projects for Michigan State University's Kellogg Biological Station and "had a charming smile, a distinctive laugh and a deep appreciation of life." 
 
 Fevig-Hughes' obituary on the Langeland Family Funeral Homes website said she was an analytical chemist with Covance Laboratories in Battle Creek and was an avid outdoors person. "The most important priority of Melissa's life is that she lived for her daughters, and they loved her very much," the website said. 
 
 There was not an obituary at a funeral home's website at press time for Nelson. 
 
 On Facebook, Mark Paulik, who said he is Larry Paulik's son, wrote an open letter to Pickett. In it, he wrote: "Words will never encompass the pain that has befallen me, my family, and friends over this accident. Our lives will be forever altered because of this tragic event." 
 
 Free Press Staff Writer Robert Allen and the Battle Creek Enquirer contributed to this report. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/28tifB4 

 KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — Lance Armstrong plans to be in Kalamazoo for a "Finishing the Ride" event in honor of the five cyclists killed when they were hit by a pickup truck. 
 
 Armstrong told the Detroit Free Press (http://on.freep.com/1OjzxKo ) the collision on June 7 in Kalamazoo County's Cooper Township, 160 miles from Chicago, is the worst he's seen and he's not sure he's emotionally ready for the ride. Armstrong says a fear of being struck by a vehicle is shared by all cyclists. 
 
 Armstrong plans to join Kalamazoo-area cyclists in a 28.5-mile ride Tuesday from Kalamazoo to Plainwell and back. 
 
 The driver of the pickup, Charles Pickett Jr., appeared in court Friday on second-degree murder charges and other crimes. He was ordered held without bond, and an attorney will be appointed to represent him.
– Lance Armstrong plans to be in Kalamazoo for a "Finishing the Ride" event in honor of the five cyclists killed when they were hit by a pickup truck, reports the AP. Armstrong told the Detroit Free Press that the collision on June 7 in Kalamazoo County's Cooper Township, 160 miles from Chicago, is the worst he's seen. "For me, this is pretty heavy, thinking the fact that we're going to complete the ride that they set out to is, I'm not sure that I'm equipped for that emotionally," he said. Armstrong says a fear of being struck by a vehicle is shared by all cyclists. Armstrong plans to join Kalamazoo-area cyclists in a 28.5-mile ride Tuesday from Kalamazoo to Plainwell and back. The driver of the pickup, Charles Pickett Jr., appeared in court Friday on second-degree murder charges and other crimes. He was ordered held without bond, and an attorney will be appointed to represent him.