I knew Pino, too. But I saw another side.
All you needed to get Pino down to earth was a pretty woman. I happened to visit his shop with my cycle racing girlfriend. Pino went from mad scientist to lecherous old man. I didn't know him well enough to know his family life, but I suspect he was "happily" married in a stable relationship that was more about companionship than love making all the time. My girlfriend was rather pretty. As you know, the ratio of men to women in cycling activities is very unbalanced. A pretty girl gets noticed by everyone - quickly. Pino was no exception. While he was always well behaved he went out of his way to be kind and helpful to my girlfriend and me.
In another situation - an early season stage race I was competing in - he noticed that I was having breathing difficulties. I don't remember if it was a cold, exercise induced ashma, or a combination. But he had some remedy that he added to some coffee which helped.
He tried to follow the races in Michigan as much as he could. Sometimes he would cycle around on his latest creation. Other times he would cycle around on a vintage cambio corsa geared bike and educate us about the old days by example.
Todd Teachout