Bless the Bikes, Curse the Potholes

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A Grand Rapids man riding his motorcycle to the Blessing of the Bikes in Baldwin has died after hitting a pothole en route this morning.  If you are riding bikes of any type out on the road this time of year, be mindful of potholes that have formed and deepened over the long winter, there are many out there, and road commissions, even if they are properly funded and dutifully tending to the roads, cannot possibly get to all of them this early in the season. 

Always ride with extra caution for the road conditions during the spring.  And motorists and bikers remember:  May is Motorcycle Awareness Month. 

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (May 18, 2014) – A 42-year-old Grand Rapids man was killed Sunday morning in a motorcycle accident, according to the Kent County Sheriff’s Department.

The accident happened Sunday before 8:30 A.M. on Peach Ridge Avenue NW north of 8 Mile Road. Deputies said a group of four motorcyclists were headed north along Peach Ridge Avenue NW to the Blessing of the Bikes in Baldwin.

The lead motorcyclist lost control of his motorcycle, then crashed said officials. The riders said the man hit a pothole before he lost control of his bike. The riders also told officials they stopped immediately to give CPR to the man until the ambulance arrived. Deputies said the man was not wearing his helmet.

The Sheriff’s Department is conducting the investigation of this accident. Updates will be posted as soon as they are available.

Read more: http://fox17online.com/2014/05/18/one-motorcyclist-killed-in-tragic...

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This WOOD TV article echoes my concerns, but it also reflects the reality:

Matthew Michael Denney, 42, was killed in the crash, the Kent County Sheriff’s Department confirmed.

It happened around 8:30 a.m. around Peach Ridge Avenue and 8 Mile Road NW. Authorities say Denney was riding his 2006 Suzuki 1800cc motorcycle northbound on Peach Ridge north of 8 Mile with a group of motorcycle riders.

Denney hit a pothole and lost control, according to the sheriff’s department. He began sliding on the road and was hit by another motorcyclist in the group.

Witnesses stopped to and performed CPR and administered first aid, but Denney died at the scene.

He was not wearing a helmet at the time.

A total of five people were in the motorcycle group on four bikes. The group was heading to a ‘Blessings of the Bikes’ event in Baldwin.

“Potholes are really bad,” longtime motorcyclist Fred Deering told 24 Hour News 8 Sunday.

Deering, 66, said he started riding motorcycles when he was 16. Recently, he said, he’s been staying off his bike because road conditions are poor.

“This year, I almost wanted to call Lansing and ask where a safe place to ride is, to see if they could answer that question,” he said.

The impact with a pothole on a motorcycle’s tire is much greater than it is on a car’s. The rubber tire absorbs the bump, but those tires are thin. Only one hit at the right spot can bend the rim or pop the tire, causing the driver to lose control.

“It jolts you, jolts your motorcycle and it definitely can throw you off,” Deering said. “When you get to the point of you’ve bent a wheel, guess what, you’ve just had a serious accident.”

Deering thinks the state and the county need to step up and spend the money to fix the roads.

Kent County Road Commission Deputy Managing Director of Operations Jerry Byrne said the rural Peach Ridge Avenue does not have much traffic, so it’s low on a long list of roads that need repairs.

“Because of lack of funding, we have not been able to do the type of repairs over the last two or three years,” Byrne said. “Our road conditions — we survey the primaries every year — have shot down drastically over the past three years. We haven’t stuck the money into them because we don’t have the money to stick into them.”

The road commission has been trying to catch up, but is being hindered by recent rainy weather.

And it has already spent about $500,000 on repairs this spring.