Anand Baskaran, 30, killed, after his motorcycle hits a pothole on eastbound I-394 in Minneapolis, Minnesota

A motorcyclist struck a pothole along a winter-worn stretch of a Minneapolis interstate and was thrown to his death, authorities said Wednesday. Anand Baskaran, 30, of the Long Island community of East Northport, N.Y., hit the pothole along eastbound Interstate 394 near Theodore Wirth Parkway about 9:50 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the State Patrol. Baskaran was wearing a helmet. While the patrol says Baskaran is from New York, his LinkedIn page and other professional web profiles note employment with Maplewood-based 3M. Also indicating his relocation to Minnesota, state records show a couple of minor traffic violations months apart since late 2012 in the Twin Cities area. State safety officials say that Baskaran’s death is the second earliest in what they consider the motorcycle riding season, when winter nears its end. After a particularly cold and snowy winter, temperatures this week have climbed above freezing with no precipitation. The temperature in Minneapolis was slightly above freezing and there was no rain or snow falling at the time of Baskaran’s crash. “Riders are taking to the roads because of the warm weather, and safety is critical, especially early in the riding season,” the state Department of Public Safety said in a statement. I-394 in both directions between downtown Minneapolis and Hwy. 100 was particularly vulnerable this winter to potholes because a thin asphalt overlay was peeling away. Crews have been patching up spots in recent weeks. As efforts to fill in potholes continue, “people need to slow down and watch for them” a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), said Wednesday. “We will have a bumper crop of them this year.” Two weeks ago, MnDOT was out patching potholes on the westbound lanes of I-394. It was not immediately known about work on the eastbound lanes, a MnDOT spokeswoman said. The Legislature in the 1990s directed MnDOT to put down an asphalt mixture with a higher friction resistance to reduce tire noise, a state pavement engineer said in January. The first layer was put down in 1996. When that wore out in 2004, MnDOT replaced it with a material that was stickier and gooier, allowing the agency to put on a thinner layer. MnDOT said it has been that layer, scheduled to be replaced in 2015, that has been peeling away and creating the gaping craters. Tuesday’s crash came just as the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety began publicizing its 2014 motorcycle rider safety classes. Offered at 30 Minnesota state colleges and universities from April to October, instructors from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation offer training and education to “ride better, ride smarter and ride longer.” There were 55 motorcycle fatalities on Minnesota roads in 2012, the latest year for which data was available, according to the Office of Traffic Safety.