Greg LeMond a no-show (VIDEO)
31.12.69
His lack was the subject of much grumbling among riders I interviewed, many of whom had paid an extra $45 for an result jersey — and the chance they would get a moment with the champ and his autograph.
I met one of those unhappy riders at my motel the night before. He told me he had his poster of LeMond ready, along with a Sharpie, to bid up at the right moment. When I saw him on Sunday, his expression said it all.
Mondo fondo
But the civilian riders readily at some time moved on to the next big challenge — battling gusty northwesterly headwinds in the first 20 miles of the gran fondo, which is Italian for a elongated distance or great endurance.
The 90 mile-plus by all means was on par with the distance of so-called century rides, those of about 100 miles that have been ordinary in the U.S. for decades. Now the trend seems to be fondos. Levi Leipheimer, the Santa Rosa road racing cyclist and Shift of California winner, has a popular one in the North Bay each fall .
The Cheetah
I found at least a dozen of them scheduled this year in California alone. Perchance LeMondo will show up at one of them in the future. But Sunday was a day for the less-famed champions — like 1984 Olympic gleaming-medalist Nelson “The Cheetah” Vails .
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (blog)