The New York Post Online
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/55539.htm
By JAMIE SCHRAM and BILL HOFFMANN
October 17, 2005 -- A veteran cyclist racing for charity on FDR Drive yesterday fell off his bicycle and died minutes later, police said.
Kurt Marino, 47, plummeted to the pavement at 8:10 a.m., shortly after he and thousands of other cyclists started north on the FDR from the South Street Seaport.
Paramedics found him unconscious and not breathing near East Houston Street and rushed him to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A preliminary investigation revealed Marino, a bachelor who lived in Cos Cob, Conn., may have had a seizure, police sources said.
The 30-mile MS Bike Tour to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society was one of many charity events Marino had participated in over the years, his friends said.
"This is quite a shock. He was a very good athlete," said Steve Johnson, a member of the Tokeneke Race Club in Darien, Conn., to which Marino belonged.
"He'd been racing actively in New England for the past five or 10 years. The weather never bothered him."
Just a week ago, Marino had competed in a 38-mile race in Jamestown, R.I., in which he placed 23rd in the 45-and-older category.
"I rode with him in that race. He was very fit," said his friend, Richard Shear.
Mike Smallidge, who also raced with Marino, said he was recognized as a Category 3 biker out of categories 1 through 5, with 1 being the best.
"He was a really good athlete and had been racing for a long time. It gets harder and harder as you get older," Smallidge told The Post.