Lance Armstrong Rides to Remember Kalamazoo Cyclist

Kalamazoo, MI - Retired American cyclist Lance Armstrong will be in Kalamazoo on Tuesday to honor the five people who died last week when the the driver of a pickup plowed into a cycling group out for a weekly ride.

Armstrong told the Detroit Free Press  he was "in complete disbelief" when he heard of the collision near Kalamazoo. Four others were injured in the horrific collision, which witnesses said sent several of the bicycles airborne.

The cyclists were part of a group called the Chain Gang, which rode together regularly. Armstrong, riding under his own cloud of doping violations, will join other Kalamazoo-area cyclists participating in “Finishing the Ride,” an event honoring the cyclists killed by finishing the ride they started, according to WWJ.

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Armstrong said the fear of being hit by a vehicle is one all cyclists share, and gave his “deepest condolences” to the loved ones of those killed. 

"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 told the Free Press.

The Tuesday ride will be a 28.5-mile trek from Kalamazoo to Plainwell and back.

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