Paul Cornish, 70, of Wildomar, CA was struck and killed by a motorist who veered onto the shoulder of SR-76 on August 31, 2017. Cornish was a very popular cyclist in his local community. He set a Guinness World Record in 1973 for the fastest ride across America in 13 days 5 hours and 20 minutes. In recent years, he became an icon among the cycling groups in Temecula and Murrieta due to his status and the personality that he brought to group rides.
Close to 200 cyclists showed up to pay their respects to Cornish on September 4, 2017, many of them riding the 68 mile round trip from Temecula to the Oceanside Pier and back with a stop to pay tribute to Cornish at the site of his accident and have a moment of silence. It is believed that he was planning to ride to Oceanside on the morning he was killed.
The local cycling community was able to pool together their resources to organize the event in less than two days initiated by his friend Jennifer Orr.