received an e-mail from my fabulous little cousin - zachary - who is my athletic inspiration. he just finished RAGBRAI (like STP, it's the cross-state biking trek of 444 miles from the missouri river to the mississippi river - Registar's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). you dip your back tire in the missouri, ride across the state, and dip your front tire in the mississippi.
recognize the guy next to him in the familiar yellow and black?
an excerpt from his email...
and as titled by zach, the following photo is "lance's ass".Yes, Lance Armstrong came to Iowa for the famous bike ride, amazing food, and to speak about the fight against cancer.
Obviously, when a person of LA's profile is near a crowd of 12,000 cyclists- he is ound to be mobbed. I had my own run in w/ the mythic Texan on Day 5 of the 7 day ride...which also happened to be century day, an optional loop -which I did of course- put that day's mileage at 100 miles...and it was possibly the easiest 100 I'll ever do as I biked w/ Lance and the crew for about 15 miles!
It all started when I biked through a town around 60 miles into the ride and I noticed hundreds of people standing ready on the sides of the road w/ their cameras... well, I realized pretty quickly they weren't waiting for me, and there was only one other person out there that could create such a reaction. This boost of adrenalin went immediately to my legs and I raced up the hills ahead to ensure Lance wouldn't outclimb me as he caught up...he has a tendency to do that ;) So a few miles down the road, Lance & his following of maybe 40 riders catch up to me...and right as the man himself pulls up immediately to my left...we hear that terrible noice of bikes and people crashing and hitting pavement at around 25mph. Lance didn't seem too phazed by the wreck but he wanted to make sure his two comrades weren't involved...he asked for permission then braced off my shoulder to have a look behind him. (I'm glad the picture turned out, cause I wouldn't believe it myself a few days later!)We kept humming along and I had no idea what to say to him- to strike up a conversation... "Nice Legs" would be the obvious first thought that comes to mind, but also a litte gay. The only thing that came to mind was Flaming Tennis Balls...(in his 1st book, he talks about soaking tennis balls in gasoline and then tossing them around in the Texas night as a young kid...I also experimented w/ the idea only a few years back). He had a serious chuckle when I suggested it and said thankfully those comments hadn't landed him in the courtroom...
taken by z as lance passed him on the road. :)
great job, bud!
while i complain of 13 miles in my triathlon, you do 100 in a day.
you rock my socks! ♥
5 comments:
I LOVE Lance Armstrong!!! And a picture of his ass on top of it..... Love it!!!
That is so freakin' hot!
Totally crazy, but Justin Davis (B'94) and I have talked about doing RAGBRAI for years... thanks for refreshing one of the to do's on the: "by the end of my life" list.... Obviously it will be a while before that happens. BTW thanks for your posting your little note! and Awesome job on the wessing shots! :)
addendum to previous comment:
wessing what the heck is a wessing?
It's code for "wedding" to an injured blogger who surfs while his leg is elevated. and obviously doesn't use the "preview" feature.... :)
justin davis! i haven't heard that name in ages!
you know what's funny...when thinking of bellarmine...is that becky bernards has done RAGBRAI!
wessings rock. they really do. especially when i am in them. :)
or photographing them.
Post a Comment