Levi's Butt Cheek

Hey All... Just got a first-person update from Noonan on yesterday's Tour de Cali action up in Santa Rosa. It's not often that I run someone else's account, but this beats anythiing I've seen on Velonews or the other cycling sites:

It was one of those wine country postcard days--about 65 degrees; sunny, clear, crisp and slightly breezy. The kind of day where it makes absolutely perfect sense that you would pay nine hundred thousand dollars for a two bedroom, no bath, four hundred square foot house because, hey, it's in Sonoma County. Our downtown area is beautiful, but it's a cluster fuck of traffic on a good day, so logistically it's kind of a pain in the ass to get to the finish area, but well worth it.

After uttering many, many, many expletives while trying to find a parking place, we got it all together. The crowd was I'm sure bigger than what I remember last year. I'm bad at that sort of thing, but I'd say somewhere around 40,000? Anyway, it was like a sophisticated street fair/frat party. They had a way cool giant ramp set up with stunt cyclists (my kids actually were more interested in that than anything else), lots of food, drink, etc. When the crash happened, it was like a game of telephone. It went from involving two cyclists, to involving all of them, people were saying ambulances had been dispatched, someone was critical, etc. Lots of anticipation, which actually was kind of exciting. Somebody also said that Levi had to finish the race with his butt cheek hanging out, which I personally didn't see...

But I did -- as I'm sure did many of you on Versa (Versus?) last night. I've never actually seen that much post-crash butt cheek, because usually when a rider falls it's more of a hip slide, and the fabric gets torn away on the flank of the shorts. Anyway, I was heartbroken for Levi when he crashed, particularly since the finish was in his hometown (and that crash was just plain brutal to watch. My condolences go out to Dave Zabriskie, who got hit pretty hard in the head when he fell. Crashes are a part of cycling, but Zabriskie has been in one too many crashes like that. You have to wonder how many times he can pick himself up and get back on that bike again, because pavement -- no matter how many times you fall -- is never soft).

However, it should be said that Levi got an enormous gift yesterday. Organizers clearly wanted to crown him the stage winner and keep him in the yellow jersey, thus their decision to give him and everyone else in the crash the same time as the other riders. This was based on their belief that too many riders were impacted by the crash, but you can't play favorites like that if you want to be a major stage race. If Levi lost a few minutes because of a crash, then the fair thing would have been to force him to nut up and make up the time with some bold and decisive riding in the mountains -- not by pretending that he wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time, as is so often the case in cycling crashes.

Stage three today takes the riders up and out of the wine country, and then into the Sacramento delta. Should make for spectacular scenery.

On a random note, it was very cool to see George Hincapie wearing the U.S. national champions' stars and stripes tunic.

Have a great day.

Keep pushing... always.

Comments

[Owlie]

Versus it is - they claim to have test-marketed it, but I think it's a really bad name. One has to wonder what the other choices were for the testers.

Curious that they didn't show the Zabriskie crash (it was about halfway through the race), there must not have been cameras there. Maybe they'll have something on it tonight.

Yeah, that decision on the crash is pretty dicey. I think the fact that it was in the circuit is the only thing that makes it plausible, but it's still pretty shaky.

Hincapie - it certainly was nice to see Captain America in action, swooping in to take care of Levi and get him home, my hero! :-)

[Karen]

I, too, was diappointed by the decision to not take into account the crash and let Levi keep the yellow jersey. I was rooting for him, yes, but them's the breaks. Not sure if it was just me, but I thought he looked somewhat embarrased on the podium. Maybe the butt cheek. Or maybe the dubious ranking decision.

[Theresa]

I know, the decision was shaky. But, they made the decision, and the riders were willing to live with it and not grumble. Except, Priority Health director, cause his rider would have been in the Golden jersey. I think Jason Donald got past the crash. We are still learning, how to make this decisions, I'm willing to cut them some slack!

[Theresa]

Also, does anyone remember the 2006 Paris-Roubaix! The train screw-up was a mess, compared to the end of stage 1 in the ToC!!

[catherine]

Owlie, I'm with you re the VS name. Dumb, sounds like the World Wide Wrestling or something. Outdoor Life wasn't much better, but the acronym OLN was fine by me.

I have to go online to see the tape on the VS site 'cause I couldn't watch last night. Hope my server gives me a smooth feed!

Has anyone looked at DZ's riding close enough to see what is causing him to crash so often? Neurologic issues? Visual issues? Certainly the latter can occur without actually needing glasses. A behavioral Optomotrist I know taught me that. Sight is complicated....

[Owlie]

There was a rookie involved in the DZ crash - I hope for his sake it wasn't his fault, wouldn't want to be known for taking out a top guy on your first time out!

Donald was caught up in the final crash, so he would've lost out too.

[Camille]

Marty, I remember your mentioning Noonan maybe a couple of other times. I don't know who that is. I googled the name and there's an Ed Noonan who rode his bike all over the country. Is this the Noonan you mean? Maybe you've said who he is before, I just don't remember if you did.

Well, I got Versus today and a bajillion other channels and DVR, and can't wait to watch Phil and the gang at 9 tonight. Yay! I joined the human race!

[Theresa]

Karsten Koon went down with DZ too. But, he got to start today. I thought I saw a rookie with Dave in that mess. Christian Vande Velde went down to with one the guys on a domestic team.
But Dave ended up with a concussion and they thought something happened to his wrist. But not, thank God!

[suitcaseofcourage]

I agree with your "enormous gift" comment. Like many others, I was rooting for Levi too - especially in his hometown. But the ToC officials would have boosted the credibility of the race - especially in its second only incarnation - by applying the rules blindly and not giving a "gift" to Levi. As well-intentioned as the decision was, I'm afraid it may undermine the world-class status the ToC is trying to acheive.