Cyclist Constantine Perakakis, 65, dies
Constantine Perakakis, 65, was killed during a bike ride after crashing on a long downhill stretch of Route 100 nicknamed Terrible Mountain, Vermont police said. Credit: Handout
The weekend-long bicycle ride through mountainous Vermont had been Constantine Perakakis' favorite annual trip for 23 years.
He used to brag about how fast he could go down those hills, his son Michael Perakakis said.
"He loved that road," he said. "He loved the mountain. That was his favorite ride."
But last Saturday, in Weston, Vt., Constantine Perakakis, 65, was killed on his beloved trip after crashing on a long downhill stretch of Route 100 nicknamed Terrible Mountain, Vermont police said.
He had been riding with about 10 members of the Massapequa Park Bicycle Club, who found him lying unconscious in the road after he rode ahead of the group, said Michael Perakakis, 32, of Massapequa.
Constantine Perakakis' wife, Irene Perakakis, 64, said it eased her pain to know he died doing what he loved most.
"He had a big smile on his face the last time I saw him," she said.
Constantine Perakakis, of Northport, had been an avid cyclist for more than 30 years, Michael Perakakis said, and was the patriarch of the bicycle club.
Bicycling "was everything to him," Michael Perakakis said. "The only thing more important to him was family."
When a member of the club died of cancer, Constantine Perakakis started the Tour of the Hamptons, an annual ride that attracts as many as 1,200 people to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
He was also "the rock" of the family and his business, said his wife.
"He put everybody ahead of himself," she said. "Everybody looked up to him."
In 1989, Constantine Perakakis co-founded Vincon Electric Co. Inc., an electrical contracting firm based in Hicksville that employs about 15 people. Michael Perakakis, a partner in the family business, plans to take over the company.
The son of a Greek immigrant, Perakakis grew up in Hempstead and married Irene, his high school sweetheart, in 1967.
During the Vietnam War, Perakakis served in the Navy, where he learned to be an electrician.
Other survivors include son Christopher Perry, 43, of Brooklyn; daughter Linda Jolly, 39, of Northport; and six grandchildren.
Services will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday at William E. Law Funeral Home in Massapequa. He will be cremated and there will a private service for him Tuesday at Calverton National Cemetery. There will also be an open house in honor of him Saturday at 2 p.m. at B.K. Sweeney's Parkside Tavern in Bethpage.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
