KALAMAZOO, MI - An estimated 700 bicyclists helped a group of bicycle-riding friends finish the ride that nine of them started a week ago.

Cyclists from all over the Greater Kalamazoo area, as well as elsewhere, made their way to the parking lots of Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services on Gull Road to finish a 28.5-mile ride that was being made last Tuesday, June 7, by The Chain Gang cycle group before they were inexplicably run down by a pickup truck.

Five of the cyclists were killed. Four were hospitalized. The driver of the pickup truck has been jailed facing second-degree murder and reckless driving charges.

Lance Armstrong said the incident left him speechless and brought him to Kalamazoo on Tuesday to help the families, friends and supporters of Chain Gang members "finish the ride."

"I've ridden a bike for 30-plus years. It's what we do," said Armstrong, who is perhaps the world's most recognizable cyclist. "We go out with our friends, our team, our teammates, our rivals even. And we've all had that moment where you get that brush (from a passing car), where it's just a little too close and it scares you. We all know that. But none of us knew this."

Armstrong flew in from his summer home in Aspen, Colo., to ride with cyclists here from Kalamazoo to Plainwell and back.

"This is part of the healing process for all of us," Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell told the cyclists before they started to ride. "Mr. Armstrong, thank you for coming to our community. There are so many great reasons to be in Kalamazoo. We are honored that you're here for this but we certainly wish this was not the occasion that you were here."

Hopewell drew applause when he invited the riders to "enjoy the ride and be safe," and said, "We can't allow the evil and stupidity and ignorance of those that decide to harm folks through their actions, to stop us from living our lives."

The ride took cyclists from Gull Road through part of the city to the 5500 block of North Westnedge Avenue where the crash occurred. It took them past flowers and five "ghost bikes" set up there as memorials to those killed. The cyclists slowed there to recognize those killed and injured and were greeted by Jennifer Johnson, one of the four cyclists who survived the crash.

Transported there by an ambulance crew, the 40-year-old wife and mother waved to passing riders and was greeted warmly and hugged by some who stopped to say hello. Bicyclist have said Johnson, whose husband Steve usually leads the Chain Gang's Tuesday rides, was leading the group last Tuesday when the crash occurred. He was not along for the ride.

Emails, tweets and other online messages grew what was originally intended to be a ride for members of The Chain Gang, their family members, their friends and other supporting area bike clubs, into one that drew hundreds of riders. That was fueled by cyclists who said they wanted to support the fallen riders, the most prominent of whom was Armstrong.

He met with some of the injured cyclists and their families on Tuesday afternoon at Borgess Medical Center and Bronson Methodist Hospital.

Posts by him on social media had stated that Tuesday's ride was open to everyone, but organizers of the event stressed that the focus needed to remain on the victims' families.

The event was organized by Toni Daniels and the Trikats (Kalamazoo's triathlon club), Renee Mitchell and the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club, and Meg Zapalowski and the Southwest Michigan Mountain Biking Association, working with The Chain Gang and others.

"Lance Armstrong reached out to the victims of the bicycle accident and said, 'I feel a lot of empathy for the situation. I want to come out and visit with the families and finish the ride,'" Daniels explained. "So, of his own volition, his team came out here. Today was the day, the one week anniversary since the accident."

She said the community came together to stage a ride that was safe for participants and that allowed people to meet, pay respects to the victims, and ride in solidarity.

Paul Selden, director of road safety for the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club, said every effort was made "to try to keep this a community event and keep its roots true -- to show respect and support for the victims and their loved ones and extended friends throughout the community."

Anthony Griffin, a 33-year-old intensive care unit nurse from Mason, said he made the 90-minute drive to Kalamazoo to try to support the cyclists who were killed and injured. He said he follows Armstrong online and would love to meet him.

"In this situation, that would be great," Griffin said. "But it's not about that. It's more about the folks who lost their lives and awareness from the point of view of drivers on the road to watch for alternate users - what have been called vulnerable users -- cyclists, runners and walkers."

"To show support for Kalamazoo," is how Dan Copeland explained his decision to drive straight to Kalamazoo from his third-shift job in northwest Ohio to be a part of Tuesday's ride. Copeland is a 52-year-old factory worker from Wapakoneto, Ohio (near Lima).

"We've all been pushed off the road," he said of cyclists contending with hostile motorists. He and Griffin said they have dealt with irate motorists and have been yelled at by them.

Helping riders along the bike route were police officers with the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, the Kalamazoo Township Police Department, the Plainwell Police Department, the Allegan County Sheriff's Office and the Michigan State Police.

Pali Matyas, undersheriff for Kalamazoo County, said officers planned to monitor and assist riders along the route but did not expect to close any roads. He said shutting down roads to vehicular traffic usually causes more problems than are necessary.

MLive writer Al Jones may be contacted at ajones5@mlive.com. Follow me on Twitter at ajones5_al