Tumble Lands Torch-Carrying Bicyclist On Leno

Talk about a lucky break.

Harley Sheffield's bicycle blew a tire Tuesday while he was ferrying the Olympic flame across the Tacoma-Narrows Bridge, causing him to drop and shatter the precious torch. It even doused the flame momentarily.

But the Redmond man's Olympic-sized embarrassment has landed him a seat next to Jay Leno.

Producers of NBC-TV's "The Tonight Show" have invited Sheffield to appear for the Monday taping of the show in Los Angeles. Sheffield and his wife, Pamela, will fly there earlier that day; the show will air that night at 11:30 p.m.

"I guess this is my 15 minutes of fame," said Sheffield, 32, a business-systems consultant.

"I'm really excited. It's a little embarrassing as to how I ended up there. But if it brings more publicity to the torch run and the Olympics, I guess that's a good thing."

Sheffield said he was just glad he didn't have a wreck and fall on his face when his rear bicycle tire caught in a grate on the bridge.

Sheffield was unhurt, but "disappointed. Unfortunately, there were cameras all over the place," he said yesterday.

He was among scores of runners, walkers, cyclists and wheelchair-bound participants who helped carry the Olympic flame through Washington state during the past three days.

The flame crossed the Cascade Mountains yesterday, bound for a street party in Yakima that served as a send-off.

Torches have gone out on this relay, but "the mother flame is

kept within yards," says Alexis Davis, spokeswoman for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.

The sacred flame, kept in a lantern for just such purposes, ignited a replacement torch and the 84-day, 15,000 mile trip continued.

"We actually put a flame out on the torch on the next leg of the bicycling relay that day," Sheffield said. "The torch ran out of gas. But it was quickly relit from the mother flame."

He said the whole thing has been a bizarre experience.

But fun.

Sheffield was interviewed last night by the BBC in London and was to to be on National Public Radio today.

"But Letterman hasn't called," he joked.

Information from Gannett News Service and Associated Press is included in this report.