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Notes from the road: Zabriskie, Guns N' Roses and other comebacks
When you’re engrossed in the cycling world most of the time, a few pop-culture items sometimes slip through the cracks. But, leave it to David Zabriskie to spark some Guns N’ Roses research and discussion in the VN editorial department. Following his epic 160km solo stage win in the Vuelta, one of Zabriskie’s post-race comments was “I had a Guns N’ Roses song in my head. I’m not sure which one, though. It’s the one where he says, ‘They can’t catch me, I’m innocent.’”
First came the frantic scramble over the “N”. For the record, it’s not “Guns ‘N Roses” or “Guns N Roses”; it’s Guns N’ Roses. What that apostrophe is for, who knows? Then, in a late-hour effort to include a GNR reference in the VN “Hot” list, our editor-in-chief made reference to Guns N’ Roses and Buckethead. The Buckethead mention was met with mostly blank stares, but a couple of nods of approval. I thought Guns N’ Roses had been broken up for a few years now. I didn’t realize that up till just a few months ago, they were still together, canceling shows on a regular basis and putting out no new material. If that ain’t together, I don’t know what is. I can’t wait for VH1’s “Behind the Music: The Buckethead Years.”
If you click the link above for Buckethead, beware, it’s a little disturbing. At the very least, it will make you hungry for some Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Whether it was pre- or post-Buckethead GNR-inspired, Zabriskie’s ride was one that had to bring a smile to anyone who follows the trials and tribulations of U.S. pros. Some people may have wondered how someone can endure a day of suffering like Zabriskie had in Spain — nearly 100 miles alone in the wind and heat, with the peloton breathing down your neck — but if you know what he’s been through over the past two seasons, it’s not surprising at all.
Back in April, Zabriskie was finally coming around after getting hit by a car in May 2003, an accident that literally saw him pinned, screwed and sewn back into one piece. “I broke my tibia and they put screws in it; I broke my wrist, and they pinned it; and the nails got ripped off and they had to sew the nail beds back together,” he told VeloNews earlier this year after the prologue at Redlands. “When I got back from the hospital, I got in the bathtub and started crying, looking at my leg. Within a week, there was no muscle left, just a tiny bone with a bunch of staples in it.”
Zabriskie seemed to be hitting his stride again at Redlands, but the very next day after the prologue, he crashed hard in stage 1 and was rushed to the hospital. No broken bones, but severe facial lacerations and road rash, and yet another setback in the road to recovery.
Clearly, Zabriskie has endured and bounced back. His perseverance was rewarded with a U.S. time trial championship in June (ironically, back in Redlands), and his strong late-summer performance in Europe earned him the Vuelta start. And now, a stage win for the ages.
Comebacks seem to be the theme of the week, as another comeback kid, Charles Dionne, made it back to the top of the heap at the T-Mobile International in San Francisco. Two years ago, Dionne seemed destined for greatness when he outwitted Postal Service and then outsprinted Henk Vogels to take the win at what then was called the San Francisco Grand Prix. He was rumored to be headed to Postal before finally signing with Saturn for the 2003 season. It turned out to be a lost season, though, as Dionne crashed hard at the Tour of Langkawi, and never really shook off the effects of his thigh injury the rest of the season.
This year, Dionne’s posted solid but not spectacular results with Webcor, winning on a fairly regular basis, but nothing that stood out like that 2002 San Francisco win. That all changed this week with another command performance in San Francisco, and just like two years ago, it appears Dionne is once again headed for big things.
Last week I took a look at one of the potential “team of the year” award winners in the men’s Colavita Olive Oil squad. This week, on to the women ….
With her second-place finish on the streets of San Francisco at T-Mobile, Tina Pic may have put the finishing touches on arguments for her as U.S. domestic rider of the year, and for Genesis Scuba as team of the year. With the exception of a few stage races, it seems as if Pic’s won just about everything this year, and oftentimes when it wasn’t Pic, it was Genesis teammates like Laura Van Gilder or Sue Palmer-Komar taking top honors. And the ride in San Francisco reinforces the fact that, although she took her third U.S. criterium title in a row, Pic is much more than a “crit rider.”
As for her team, it may well be the most unsung super-squad in recent memory.
