LE TOUR

I started watching the Tour De France with some interest in the summer of 2000---I wasn’t watching the Tour so much as I was watching a kid named Lance try to win the Tour for the second time. I spent a lot of that summer in Texas--- my mom and my dad were simultaneously battling cancer, and both receiving chemo and associated treatments at the same facility near their home. My mom lost her fight at the end of that June, and my dad was in tough shape as the 2000 Tour began. Luckily, a lot of that summer has faded a bit in my mind, but I remember clearly the evenings that my dad and I spent together tuned into the Tour and talking about Lance---a guy who grew up within 10 miles of us, who bought his bikes where my dad bought his, but more importantly, a man who faced incredible odds of surviving cancer and somehow not only survived but went on to perform at the top of his sport. He was an inspiration to us, just as he has been to millions of people around the globe. Watching the countless segments of him in the midst of his treatment, with his head shaved and stitched like a baseball where the tumors were removed, burned an image of courage and invincibility into my mind. And, year after year he continues to be such a compelling figure---what he does on the bike is monumental, but what he does off the bike will always mean more to me. This time of year my dad and I always communicate daily about Lance and the Tour, and the day’s big events. I don’t think either of us understand the Tour---the complicated rules and the points systems---but we understand Lance.

I rode one of the RIDE FOR THE ROSES “with” Lance in Austin a few years back, along with my friend Martha Hunn. It was the greatest ride---made particularly special by the incredible number of cancer survivors who rode the route---in all phases of treatment. I didn’t actually see Lance that day, but I heard him on the loudspeakers and when I finished the course, I was talking to one of his friends from the LAF and I asked where Lance was. The guy looked at his watch and said, “Lance is in the plane on his way to Europe!”. I guess he finished a little ahead of us….

So, I think about Lance a lot---I think about him when I’m riding, and not having fun. I look down at my right wrist, where I'm like 47 million other people wearing a yellow rubber bracelet with “LIVESTRONG” carved into it. I think about the days when he must not have felt like riding his bike, but rode anyway, emphasizing that he doesn’t have bad days anymore---he has good days and great days. I channel some of that energy and am grateful for everything I’ve been given.

I also think about all that I have in common with Lance! Here’s the short list:

ME ‘N’ LANCE

1. Me ‘n’ Lance are both from Texas. That will never change, and has shaped both of us.
2. Me ‘n’ Lance both are on big rides this summer. His is shorter, and takes less time, though---I spent about as much time in Montana and North Dakota as he’ll spend in France. We both have an Internet following, too.
3. Me ‘n’ Lance are both riding TREK bikes. My water bottle cages weigh more than his bike, though.
4. Me ‘n’ Lance both use a lot of the same brand gear---GIRO helmets, Nike clothing, etc. He gets paid by them, and calls them “sponsors”. I pay for my gear, and am still waiting to see if Golden Oreos is interested in sponsoring me.
5. Me ‘n’ Lance both have teams. Lance has domestiques! My team was my brother and his wife, plus Kami. He has a chef---I have a squished peanut butter sandwich, a bag of cheetos and a ding dong. He has a masseuse, I have a small container of Tiger Balm. He sleeps in an oxygen chamber. I sleep in a moldy old sleeping bag named Big Agnes.
6. Me ‘n’ Lance both like to eat burritos in the off season. I don’t exactly have an off season though.
7. Me ‘n’ Lance are both wearing that yellow bracelet, and we both like Sheryl Crow’s music.
8. Me ‘n’ Lance both shave our legs, although he does it more often than me this summer!

GO LANCE!!!!