WAITSFIELD, Vt. – A motorcyclist from Cape Elizabeth, Maine, was killed Saturday after the foot peg on his bike hit the pavement and he crashed.

John W. Betzold, 56, was traveling with a group of friends on motorcycles.

Vermont State Police said Betzold’s friends stopped to take photographs of Betzold as he came around a curve. The foot pedal of Betzold’s Honda VFR 900 Sport motorcycle hit the road and he lost control of the bike and crashed into a guardrail, police said.

He was taken to Vermont State Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.