Joshua M. Kuck was just getting started.

He graduated from Cape Elizabeth High School in 2003 and was a junior at the University of South Florida. He was passionate about cycling, and co-founded school's cycling team with $15,000 he collected from sponsors.

On Sunday, Mr. Kuck was struck by a pickup truck and killed during the final leg of a cycling event, the Hilly Hundred. He was 22.

"His teammates were in total awe of him," said his stepfather, Dana Temple of Cape Elizabeth. "Josh was their leader and their inspiration. Without him, they would never have met and never would have been the friends they are."

A St. Petersburg Times story said Mr. Kuck's teammates thought of him as a dedicated and selfless person.

"Josh always made it known that if there was anything he could do in a race to sacrifice himself, he wouldn't care if he lost or won, he just wanted us to do well," his teammate Brandon Kibler said.

Mr. Kuck became interested in cycling through Temple. He had always been interested in mountain biking, but the folks at Cycle Mania in Portland helped spark his interest in road riding.

When he transferred from Plymouth State College in New Hampshire to USF, he sought permission from the university to start a cycling team, Temple said. His experience in starting the team and securing sponsorships led him to change his major to marketing.

"The bicycling team was his life," Temple said. "It amazes us. Josh was never like that as a kid. In the last few years, he had become an absolutely driven person. I have never been so confident about what his future would have held had he survived. Nothing was out of his reach."

Mr. Kuck grew up in Cape Elizabeth, the only child of Stuart Kuck of Cambridge, Ohio, and Prudence Todd.

Temple entered his life 15 years ago.

"He never said it to my face, but he said it to everyone else: 'That's my dad,' " Temple said. "He was the closest I had to having a son. I was so proud of him."

He was remembered by his family as a good kid and a competitor who always did his best. Ben Raymond, coach of the Cape Elizabeth lacrosse team, said Mr. Kuck worked hard in practice and made the players around him better.

"He was a great kid," Raymond said. "He made practices fun, and he was really easy to coach. He took advantage of all the opportunities he had to make himself better."

Copyright 2009 by The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. All rights reserved.