 Crosthwaite retired to the South Coast of England in the late 1980s.Active, energetic and enthusiastic, he continued to windsurf and ride mountain bikes 'off-road' until he was 76 years old, when he fractured his hip in a cycling accident on the South Downs.John Crosthwaite died on 5 September 2010 while on holiday in Tralee, Eire.