Lance Armstrong's first book was
titled, "It's not about the Bike" without a doubt is an inspirational
read and after spending an evening in his presence I would lobby for
this next book to be titled "Bigger than the Bike". Lance
is a hero to all and without a doubt the greatest cyclist...ever, but
after listening him talk about his mission to conquer cancer he's truely
a class act.
So last week I responded to a "tweet" from Lance on the ever growing in popularity website called www.twitter.com
Lance had "blogged', "first 100 e-mails to respond get to ride with me
this Saturday in Los Angeles. A day later I was confirmed for the day
of my life!
Only a few short months ago I met Mark
Allen and Pauly Newby Frasier two Ironman legends. Now I get a chance
to meet Lance. I might as well just buy a lottery ticke, huh? (Well I
did...and no cigar!)
I received e-mails from a
representative at Livestrong with details of where to meet and a few
basic details of the ride. We would ride 2 miles down Sunset Blvd in
Hollywood. I blogged to facebook on Saturday morning, "today I get to
ride with Lance" One of my smartass friends commented, "how's
that work? Does he coast while you pedal...or do they make him pedal
with only one leg?" I suppose you wish you would have thought of that
to give me a hard time, right?
So I meet at the staging area and
receive my free "Hope Rides Again" tee shirt that I was required to wear
on the bike and a mystery black wristband that is supposed to get me
into THE function. You know me, always at the front of the starting
line, I was front row, hoping to get to ride and maybe even talk with
Lance. Then there were about 800 other bikers behind me all probably
thinking the same thing!
Lance come out and makes a brief speech
launching his new "Stages" art exhibit where each day of the 21 stages
of the Tour de France this year he will introduce a new artists work and
how it relates to his message he is trying to get across about cancer
awareness. Shortly after we saddle up and all 6 lanes of Sunset Blvd
are closed to traffic and a wall of cyclist travel freely all the way
from Children's Hospital to the Montalban Theatre.
There was a staging area where we could
valet park our bicycles and the mysterious black wristband got us in to
the theatre. We were welcomed with an open bar and Livestrong paraphernalia all over the theater including his bikes, shoes, clothing.
etc. There were 3 large screens with synchronized photos by Elizabeth
Kreutz the captivating the audience. We were greeted by none other than
Ben Stiller who had an open monologue to introduce Lance.
Lance shared the stage with the
president of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the president of Nike.
Later Shepherd Fairey the artist of the giant mural. While everyone
was on stage there was Q&A and much dialog to keep our attention
sharing great stories of the "origin" of the Yellow wristband and what's
to come next.
Finally there was a surprise guest
appearance of Ben Harper and the Magnificent7 who rocked the house
playing nearly 10 new songs to their upcoming album this spring!
Lances message came across loud and
clear that he wants to stomp out cancer. Definitely a night I will
never forget! Please enjoy the links, photos, and blogs below!
Cheers,
/Brian
Summary of Event:
My Photos from the event:
Someone elses blog and photos from the night
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?s=18c2841a7516e472a5d57f25cea3bb3c&p=409109#post409109
Someone's video from the ride last night
Professional Sports Photos, this photographer's pictures were featured in slide show at the event
Professional Photos of the event - These are incredible!
Another great photo!
Shepard Fairey - artist who made giant wall mural of Lance in Hollywood (famous for Obama poster)
More Great photos from the event
Map of event
utube video from event
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