It’s funny how malleable our definition of “local” becomes when emotion gets involved.  Seattle is a fiercely independent town where “local” is meant to imply your immediate neighborhood and we struggle to consider people who inhabit a community less than a kilometer away to be little less than an étranger. On the other hand, I have yet to meet a cyclist in town who does not consider T-Bone Farrar a hometown boy, despite the fact that he hails from Wanatchee, which is quite a distance (and an entire mountain range) away from Seattle.

But such are the wonts of fans; we’re not required to be rational, and what a beautiful thing that is. In any event, I was delighted to see hometown boy T-Bone make an amazing jump at the line today.  As the bunch approached the finish, he seemed hopelessly poorly positioned and likely to get closed out in the final dash.  Cavendouche was in his usual spot, tucked in behind Matt Goss, and I almost walked away, taking another Cav’ win as a forgone conclusion.  But, in a masterful jump that showed a combination of skill and power in maneuvering up from a relatively poor position, he accelerated past the front of the fastest leadout in the world to take his second stage of the race and demonstrate what an exciting bunch sprint can do for a race.

And, given his roots in the Hard Rock capital of Seattle, what would be more fitting than the Metal Horns Salute? The answer is, of course, “none”. It certainly is quite a bit easier to understand than the J-Rod Cyclops.