Leonard Maffei was a champion bicycle racer in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 during the 1930s. Born Leonardo E. Marzigliano in Providence

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

, Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

, he raced under his mother's maiden name because his own name was too long to fit on a jersey. Based in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Maffei raced throughout the Northeast

Northeast Corridor

The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...

 during the heyday of American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 bicycle racing

Bicycle racing

Bicycle racing is a competition sport in which various types of bicycles are used. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, bike trials, and cycle speedway. Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport...

 in venues like Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

 and the Coney Island Velodrome

Coney Island Velodrome

The Coney Island Velodrome was a mid-sized sports arena in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn in New York City, USA. Designed as a bicycle racing venue, the drome featured a 1/8-mile wooden oval track with 45-degree banked corners and seating for 10,000. It also hosted outboard midgets into 1939...

. 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 St. Louis

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 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 Spanish Influenza 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 Middletown, New York

Middletown, New York

Middletown is the name of two separate places located in the U.S. state of New York:*Middletown, Delaware County, New York, a town*Middletown, Orange County, New York, a city...

. 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 Brooklyn Navy Yard

Brooklyn Navy Yard

The United States Navy Yard, New York–better known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard or the New York Naval Shipyard –was an American shipyard located in Brooklyn, northeast of the Battery on the East River in Wallabout Basin, a semicircular bend of the river across from Corlear's Hook in Manhattan...

, and painted apartments in the famed Stuyvesant Town

Stuyvesant Town

Stuyvesant Town—Peter Cooper Village is a large private residential development on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, and one of the most iconic and successful post-World War II private housing communities...

 and Peter Cooper Village housing developments in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

. In his later years, he served as a housesitter

HouseSitter

HouseSitter is a 1992 romantic comedy film directed by Frank Oz, written by Mark Stein, and starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. The premise involves a woman with con-artist tendencies who worms her way into the life of a reserved architect by claiming to be his wife.-Plot:Newton Davis is a...

 and airport driver for affluent retirees in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

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

Stomach cancer

Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...

in 1989.