A Canyon Country man accused of killing a bicyclist while driving drunk is scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing in his vehicular manslaughter and murder case.

Marco Valencia was arrested in July after he allegedly plowed through a group of cyclists in Canyon Country, killing Joe Novotny, 43, of Stevenson Ranch. Valencia was drunk at the time of the crash and it wasn't the first time he had been driving under the influence.

Valencia is charged with multiple felony counts including murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit and run and multiple DUI charges, according to court files.

He is being held in lieu of more than $1.3 million bail.

In 2007, a then-teenage Marco Antonio Valencia was convicted of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the Santa Clarita Valley. He was convicted again last year when he ran into a power pole near Canyon High School, knocking out electricity to nearby residents for hours.

However, Valencia's most recent drunk driving incident struck at the core of the Santa Clarita cycling community. Novotny was a member of the Santa Clarita Velo bicycling club.

Members of the club, family and friends called Novotny "irreplaceable" and his fellow cyclists said they "will never ride the same again" during a memorial service mid-July.

Valencia is due in San Fernando Superior Court on Thursday at 8:30 a.m.