Floyd Update

Floyd Landis's hearing started on Monday. If I weren't a follower of his career and case, I probably wouldn't be aware that this was going on. I would've heard the short blurb on NPR's Morning Edition, but that's it.

Thankfully, I have TBV to interpret the case for me. If it weren't for that website, I don't know how I would keep up. Sure, I could try to watch the live video feeds of the trial (which I do watch whenever I can), but I wouldn't be able to grasp the importance of certain events. I'm just not in tune with the legal process of this sort of arbitration or the science of doping.

One of the sources that TBV quoted the other day was particularly interesting to me. The quote was from an article in on the Bicycling website:

Landis himself has no opportunity to divert his attention. Typically, he is so energetic that he practically vibrates when forced to sit for any period of time, even a media interview that lasts longer than an hour. But in this hearing he’s sitting utterly still. Though almost constantly chewing gum, he never so much as fidgets, and has not yawned or even appeared distracted once that I’ve seen. He is focused.

I've had the opportunity to see Floyd at three different races: the 2005 Tour de France (15 stages), the 2006 Tour of California (2 stages), and the 2006 Tour de France (all stages). At many of those stages, it was easy to get the attention of cyclists who were passing through, especially in less important parts of the stage. I've got a great shot of Chris Horner, for example, looking straight at me during a time trial. Thomas Voeckler's name is called out all the time, but he still always looks when he hears it shouted by any one person. Jens Voigt and Fabian Wegmann both flirt with crowds a lot, goofing off and waving. Dave Zabriskie once gave us the peace sign. From my experience, George Hincapie frequently makes eye contact with spectators.

Floyd's different, though. When he's riding past, there's no distracting him. No matter how many times you shout, "Go, Floyd!" he doesn't look your way. He's dedicated 100% to what he's doing, unable to be taken away from that single task of riding his bike with more intensity than the field of cyclists around him. (Note: Lance Armstrong was pretty much the same way.)

Maybe this is only as accurate as my own experience. Maybe Floyd is a terribly distracted individual. What I've seen from the sidelines, though, is an incredibly focused individual.

That same focus seems to be what this article is referencing. Floyd has taken the intense energy that he uses for racing and focused it on clearing his name.