A Rutherglen man who died in a collision while cycling at Lilliput on Friday is being remembered for his honesty and kindness by all who crossed his path.
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Retired farmer Tony Reeckman, 59, discovered a passion for cycling and photography later in life.
Friend Wes Samson, owner of Wangaratta's West End Cycles, said Mr Reeckman was a huge help when he took over the store and remained a regular customer.
"The common theme from everyone was he was a good, honest, nice bloke," Mr Samson said.
"He was one of the small army of people that helped us with the refit of the store and never asked for anything in return.
"He'd been over to the Tour Down Under (in Adelaide) a couple of weeks ago and dropped by to grab some stuff on his way over."
Mr Reeckman, known as "Barney", was an active member of Norong Fire Brigade, west of Rutherglen.
Brigade captain Tony Jones said he also had an involvement with Landcare during his farming days.
Mr Samson said Mr Reeckman's photography and his love of Australian film The Castle brought back plenty of fond memories.
"He took up photography when he was wondering what he was going to do with his farm," he said.
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"He got introduced to the world of cycling, and then through his cycling, he started doing a bit of photography and was a pretty handy photographer.
"I was in Mount Beauty on the weekend and I've got a beautiful photo he took of my daughter there. Every time I walked past that spot on the weekend, I thought of that photo and of him.
"For a couple of years he produced his own cycling calendar. He put together a calendar of all his photos every year and we used to sell them through the shop.
"The other thing we shared quite often was his love of The Castle. Whenever I posted something with a nod to The Castle, he was usually the first one on to it."
North East charity ride group BDA Cycling paid tribute to Mr Reeckman with a Facebook post on Saturday.
"Tony was definitely one of those guys that it would be impossible to find someone that had a bad word to say about him," the post read.
"North East cycling is a lot worse off today with the passing of someone with such a kind and generous personality as Tony. Our thoughts are with both the Wangaratta and Rutherglen cycling communities.
"Our thoughts go out to Tony's partner, Deb and the rest of their respective families."
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