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Boulder Creek biker dies in crash
By Jennifer Squires
Sentinel Staff Writer A 41-year-old Boulder Creek man riding his motorcycle to his daughter's volleyball game died Thursday when his bike collided with a car turning onto Highway 9 near Irwin Way in Brookdale, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Michael Schwerdtfeger was heading south on a 2006 Honda motorcycle when he ran into a 1999 Ford driven by a 31-year-old Brookdale man who was attempting to turn left onto Highway 9 from a private driveway around 4 p.m., the CHP said.
The Brookdale man turned left as the motorcycle was approaching, and Schwerdtfeger hit the brakes but was unable to stop before the two vehicles collided, the CHP said.
He was thrown off his motorcycle and died at the scene, the CHP said. The driver of the Ford was not injured.
Schwerdtfeger was going to watch his 13-year-old daughter, a San Lorenzo Valley High School student, play a volleyball match against Aptos High School, said his wife, Kristin Schwerdtfeger.
CHP officers have declined to say who they believe was at fault, but officer Grant Boles said Friday that the Ford's driver was not intoxicated.
"He was coming off the corner," Kristin Schwerdtfeger said. "He couldn't see the guy. The guy couldn't see him. It was an accident."
That stretch of Highway 9 is particularly treacherous, with several tight turns and blind corners.
Kristin Schwerdtfeger was already at the game when a neighbor called to find out if her husband was out on his motorcycle, she said.
"I left the game," she said. The Boulder Creek fire chief, whose son had grown up with Michael Schwerdtfeger, helped get the family together, including the couple's 16-year-old daughter, an SLV soccer player, and their 19-year-old son, who graduated from SLV in 2004 and now attends Cabrillo College.
Schwerdtfeger was a big supporter of his children's athletics and coached his son in wrestling for six years, his wife said.
"He loved working with the kids," she said.
He worked for his parents' company, California American Exterminators, and had been riding motorcycles most of his life, his wife said.
An investigation is under way and the Coroner's Office will performed an autopsy on Schwerdtfeger.
Family friends have opened a trust for the family at Union Bank of California, 6265 Hwy. 9 in Felton, and a benefit lunch is planned at Scopazzi's, 13300 Big Basin Highway in Boulder Creek, on Oct. 1.
Contact Jennifer Squires at jsquires@santacruzsentinel.com.
Boulder Creek biker dies in crash
By Jennifer Squires
Sentinel Staff Writer A 41-year-old Boulder Creek man riding his motorcycle to his daughter's volleyball game died Thursday when his bike collided with a car turning onto Highway 9 near Irwin Way in Brookdale, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Michael Schwerdtfeger was heading south on a 2006 Honda motorcycle when he ran into a 1999 Ford driven by a 31-year-old Brookdale man who was attempting to turn left onto Highway 9 from a private driveway around 4 p.m., the CHP said.
The Brookdale man turned left as the motorcycle was approaching, and Schwerdtfeger hit the brakes but was unable to stop before the two vehicles collided, the CHP said.
He was thrown off his motorcycle and died at the scene, the CHP said. The driver of the Ford was not injured.
Schwerdtfeger was going to watch his 13-year-old daughter, a San Lorenzo Valley High School student, play a volleyball match against Aptos High School, said his wife, Kristin Schwerdtfeger.
CHP officers have declined to say who they believe was at fault, but officer Grant Boles said Friday that the Ford's driver was not intoxicated.
"He was coming off the corner," Kristin Schwerdtfeger said. "He couldn't see the guy. The guy couldn't see him. It was an accident."
That stretch of Highway 9 is particularly treacherous, with several tight turns and blind corners.Kristin Schwerdtfeger was already at the game when a neighbor called to find out if her husband was out on his motorcycle, she said.
"I left the game," she said. The Boulder Creek fire chief, whose son had grown up with Michael Schwerdtfeger, helped get the family together, including the couple's 16-year-old daughter, an SLV soccer player, and their 19-year-old son, who graduated from SLV in 2004 and now attends Cabrillo College.
Schwerdtfeger was a big supporter of his children's athletics and coached his son in wrestling for six years, his wife said.
"He loved working with the kids," she said.
He worked for his parents' company, California American Exterminators, and had been riding motorcycles most of his life, his wife said.
An investigation is under way and the Coroner's Office will performed an autopsy on Schwerdtfeger.
Family friends have opened a trust for the family at Union Bank of California, 6265 Hwy. 9 in Felton, and a benefit lunch is planned at Scopazzi's, 13300 Big Basin Highway in Boulder Creek, on Oct. 1.
Contact Jennifer Squires at jsquires@santacruzsentinel.com.