Cyclist Levi Leipheimer is more than a monarch - The San Francisco Examiner
SAN FRANCISCO – Susan Gorin calls it a “Levi sighting.”The Santa Rosa mayor says she often hears reports from locals saying they had spotted professional cyclist Levi Leipheimer training on city roads.
“Levi doesn’t just live here,” Gorin says proudly. “He trains around here.”
Another local, Gary Wysocky, first spotted the cyclist training along a stretch of Sonoma County road. Wysocky said he was able to interrupt Leipheimer for a 10-minute chat, which turned out to be a good-luck encounter: Leipheimer would eventually help him become a Santa Rosa lawmaker.
“He endorsed me for City Council,” said Wysocky. Asked if he had ever gone on a bike ride with Leipheimer, he chuckled. “In my dreams,” he said.
That Leipheimer, a 12-year Santa Rosa resident, has become a hometown hero is of little surprise. After switching from competitive Alpine skiing to cycling at age 19, the humble 35-year-old climbing specialist grew into one of the world’s best athletes, twice winning the Amgen Tour of California (tour officials are now calling him “the King of California”), becoming the fourth American in history to finish on the podium of the Tour de France (2007) and earning an Olympic bronze medal last year in Beijing, among a long list of impressive cycling accomplishments.