Leonard Maffei (died 1989) was a champion bicycle racer in the

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during the 1930s. Born Leonardo E. Marzigliano in

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, he raced under his mother's

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because his own name was too long to fit on a jersey.

Biography

Based in

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, Maffei raced throughout the

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during the heyday of

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bicycle racing Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

in venues like

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and the

Coney Island Velodrome The Coney Island Velodrome was a mid-sized sports arena in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. Designed as a bicycle racing venue, the drome featured a wooden oval track with 45° banked corners and seating for 10,000. It also hosted outboa ...

. He won the New York state championship three times, in 1933's Junior division and the Senior title in 1936 and 1937. Leonard's accomplishments also include riding an antique bicycle (used by Charles M. "Mile a Minute" Murphy in 1899 to ride a measured mile in under 60 seconds) on national television. In 1936, Leonard won the New York State championship race, but found himself without a way to reach the national championships which were held in

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that year. His uncle Damiano Maffei (affectionately known as Uncle Mimi), procured a car by having his brothers and friends contribute towards the expenses in exchange for passage on the trip. Unfortunately, it took so many men to fund the trip that there was no room for Leonard in the small car. Billing his solution as "training", Uncle Mimi had Leonard pedal behind the car on his bicycle from Brooklyn to St. Louis. The 950 mile trip left him so physically exhausted that he lost the race. An extremely accident prone Leonard survived the

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outbreak of 1918, a household fire, a gas leak, and numerous incidents of falls and car strikes while riding his bicycle, both on and off the competitive track. His most severe injury occurred on July 14, 1962 at the Fair Oaks Velodrome near

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. Leonard fell heavy during the seniors race and was inadvertently run over by some of the other riders. He suffered a broken neckbone, shoulder bone, collar bone, and five ribs. Outside of racing, Leonard worked as a ship painter in the

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, and painted apartments in the famed

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and

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housing developments in

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. In his later years, he served as a housesitter and airport driver for affluent retirees in

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. A prolific athlete who rode 20 miles a day well into his 70s, he died of

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

in 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maffei, Leonard American male cyclists Year of birth missing 1989 deaths Deaths from stomach cancer