"I know that I'm not for everybody, but this one touched home," Armstrong said.
KALAMAZOO -- He heard the news the way many did, through a text alert, while traveling with friends in Colorado. And as it did for so many, something struck a nerve with Lance Armstrong.
Once known as bicycling's most dominant force, here he was Tuesday, making his way up Gull Road and carving a path through a sea of bicyclists. He walked slowly through a crowd of hundreds to shake hands, to listen politely, to grieve with a community reeling from last week's crash that killed five bicyclists and injured four others.
"We've all had cars come just a little too close and it scares you," Armstrong told a crowd near the Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services parking lot. "We all know that, but none of us knew this. Over the years, there have been tragedies and incidents but nothing to this level. As I told Steve (Johnson, of Johnson Cycle Works) and his group earlier, thank you for letting me come.
"I know that I'm not for everybody, but this one touched home."
Several hundred riders pedaled in silence through the crash site on North Westnedge Avenue in Cooper Township — about five miles from where the ride began — before they were supposed to finish in Plainwell and wrap around back to the start. The ride completes the one started by the victims of last week's deadly crash, all of whom were members of the Chain Gang bicycle club.
Killed in the crash just north of Kalamazoo were Debra Ann Bradley, 53, of Augusta; Melissa Ann Fevig-Hughes, 42, of Augusta; Fred Anton (Tony) Nelson, 73, of Kalamazoo; Lorenz John (Larry) Paulik, 74, of Kalamazoo; and Suzanne Joan Sippel, 56, of Augusta.
The four who were injured were taken to Kalamazoo's Bronson Methodist Hospital and Borgess Medical Center. Among them, Paul Douglas Gobble, 47 of Richland; Sheila Diane Jeske, 53, of Richland, who has since been discharged; Jennifer Lynn Johnson, 40 of Kalamazoo; and Paul Lewis Runnels, 65, of Richland.
Runnels, who was visited by Armstrong on Tuesday, remains in fair condition at Bronson, a hospital spokeswoman said.
A Bedford Township man, 50-year-old Charles E. Pickett Jr., was arraigned last week on five counts of second-degree murder and four counts of reckless driving. Police say Pickett drove his pickup truck into a group of cyclists on June 7 in Cooper Township before fleeing on foot. Pickett is being held without bond.
A preliminary hearing on the charges is scheduled for June 29. Attorneys will meet in a pre-exam conference June 22.
It wasn't the first memorial ride for the victims, as a ride late last week drew a sizable crowd. But Tuesday's was a more intimate affair, closed to the general public, and designed to honor families of victims and the area's cycling clubs.
While Armstrong was the biggest name in attendance, many viewed him as another brother-in-arms paying tribute to those impacted by the crash.
"Lance is just another grieving cyclist," said Meg Zapalowski, president of Team ClarkLogic Racing, one of several organizers of the event. "This ride is about our community coming together and it's really not about a big-name celebrity coming to support us. It's about us, as a community, grieving together and being able to heal together."
Aiding the healing process was a theme discussed by many during the course of the evening.
Kalamazoo Bicycle Club Vice President John Olbrot called the crash an "awful, awful thing," but said people can be grateful for the way members of the community have responded in the wake of great sorrow.
"A tragedy like that just shakes the whole community — cyclists and noncyclists alike," Olbrot said. "But certainly, being cyclists and like-minded individuals, it just seems to take a special piece of our heart. I am glad for this ride and grateful that this ride was here and we were asked to participate and that we can help the healing process go on."