Levi Leipheimer will be honored Thursday night as the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce's 2010 Business Man of the Year.
And to think as recent as a year ago, if someone had asked you to describe a GranFondo, you would have replied, "Isn't that where you dip some bread into a really big bowl of melted Velveeta cheese?"
No, Leipheimer wasn't selling a GranFondue. He was selling something the 1960s way, although he probably didn't think of it that way at the time.
One man and one idea can make a difference. Such a notion has fallen on hard times over the years, as we have come to despair about The Power of One. How can one man and one thought make a dent in The System, the dysfunctional mess we have grown to suspect, if not outright distrust? How? By telling people it would be fun to pay money to get on a bike with 3,150 other people and peddle around Sonoma County.
That's what Leipheimer was selling. And the team he assembled sold it this well: After analyzing a rider survey, the city of Santa Rosa determined the economic and revenue impact of the 2009 GranFondo was $1,247,490. Sixty-four percent of the participants (2,000 of the 3,150 who rode) responded and based on their responses, the city extrapolated the final number.
"When I first came up with the idea," Leipheimer said, "I was wondering how many riders might come. I thought maybe 1,500."
The inaugural GranFondo last year drew 3,500 riders (3,150 which showed up). This year's event has a cap of 6,000. With nine months still to go, 4,500 riders have paid their registration fees.
When told of the economic impact that reached above a million dollars, Leipheimer responded, "That's pretty cool, huh? I wanted to pay back Sonoma County for what it has done for me. It (hills, roads, etc.) has made me a better cyclist and so the only motivation I had was to give something back to the area."
In this what's-in-it-for-me era of sports, in which we have come to suspect, if not outright distrust the motivations of any professional athlete, Leipheimer has none of these negative attachments.
"Levi didn't do this to get famous, or to make money, or for a pat on the back, or for endorsements," said Janet Rogers, the Chamber's director of membership and special events. "He just did this for other people."
To put it in its most impressive form: Leipheimer didn't ask nor receive one penny of the $1,247,490.
And to put a picture on its most telling image: Read how Leipheimer responded when Mo McElroy from the city informed him by e-mail that he had just been named Santa Rosa's Businessman Of The Year.
"That's cool," Leipheimer said in his e-mail. "But do you really think I deserve it?"
Apparently, in the Chamber's nomination committee meeting a month ago, there wasn't much hesitation when his name was offered. It was a two-hour meeting to select other award winners and Rogers remembered it took about 20 minutes for Leipheimer to surface to top of the heap when the six-person committee began discussions on Businessman of the Year. Any person involved in committee meetings, or in any meeting for that matter, would love for a group of people to make up their minds in just 20 minutes.
"You didn't even have to ride a bike to appreciate what Levi did," Rogers said. "Anyone who can make people feel good right now, anyone who can put a smile on someone's face, you have to notice that."
The GranFondo is good for what ails you, that's what Rogers was saying. In the middle of a Great Recession an event that lightens the load -- even if only for a couple hours -- has relevance. It rang the cash drawer at a time in which money isn't dropping like fall leaves from a tree.
"It exceeded my expectations," Leipheimer said of the GranFondo.
At age 13, when he started riding, Leipheimer's dream was to ride in the Tour de France.
"For some inexplicable reason," he said, "I knew I was meant to do it (cycle). I never expected much. I just wanted to be a bike racer."
Well, Leipheimer rode in the Tour de France all right, and finished on the podium. He represented the United States in the Olympics. He's also won three times the most prestigious American stage race, the Tour of California. He's created an event out of thin air that has made him a business icon of sorts.
"It was definitely a surprise," Leipheimer said. "I never thought of myself as a businessman."
Well, he is and, taking the long view, the GranFondo will extend his reputation in ways the tours in France or California never can. A lot of guys have won France. A lot of guys will win California. But this, Levi Leipheimer the GranAltruist, well, the man has the podium all to himself.
For more on North Bay sports go to Bob Padecky's blog at padecky.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Bob Padecky at 521-5223 or bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com.
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