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Old 05-20-08, 10:32 AM
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hotbike
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I did not know John Cuchessi, but rather I learned of his death while doing a Google search for bicycle news:

Popular San Clemente businessman dies in bicycle mishap
San Clemente's John Cuchessi, 54, mysteriously turned and crashed Sunday while doing what he loved best.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/s...6724-bike-shop

When John Cuchessi went for his final bike ride Sunday, he could not have known the impact he would leave behind in San Clemente.
"He can't be replaced – not in my heart anyhow," said his friend and cycling buddy Gary Nicotra.
"He's been such a great person in the cycling community of San Clemente," said Susan Tudor, a friend.
"Nicest guy in town," said Dave Cook, San Clemente's municipal golf-course pro and a Cuchessi surfing buddy since they were kids.
Cuchessi, 54, died Sunday while returning from a bike ride to Camp Pendleton – a ride that he and the San Clemente Renegades did every Sunday.
Witnesses said Cuchessi was on a downhill bicycle sprint from a railroad overcrossing at San Onofre State Beach when he suddenly, mysteriously turned to the right and hit a fence. He reportedly died in an ambulance on his way to Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in San Clemente.
As word spread, the hospital filled with stunned friends and relatives. San Clemente Cyclery – the business Cuchessi founded in 1974 – became a shrine with flowers and messages.
Friends painted a picture of a businessman generous to a fault. He would repeatedly say "Pay me next time" and would drop whatever he was doing to perform a quick bicycle repair for someone at his door.
"A wonderful heart, a wonderful spirit," Joe Rodarti said.
Patrick Maloney, who delivered mail to the bike shop and had known Cuchessi since childhood, attended a Bible study that Cuchessi held on Thursday nights in the shop. "He remembered everybody's name … remembered something good about everybody," Maloney said. "People would go to his bike shop and stay. They just loved him. He loved them back."
Mike Morrill, a cycling pal for 31 years, said: "He had a food bank that he ran out of his shop. He was helping the homeless guys out with food."
Nicotra said he, Cuchessi and a few others founded the San Clemente Renegades in the early 1990s as an offshoot of the San Clemente Velos, a racing group. "We decided to start our own recreational club," Nicotra said. "We're more of a social club. There's about 80 of us. Some of us do race, but we're more about just promoting cycling and fellowship."
The club holds holiday parties and takes recreational rides, including the one to the south end of Camp Pendleton on Sundays.
"One of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet," Nicotra said of Cuchessi. "I feel like I've been robbed. How many people do you know in business who feed homeless people and take bikes to orphanages in Mexico?"
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