Keep those names coming! We've got names from 31 US states and 10 countries
(Ireland, Great Britain, Netherlands, France, Australia, Canada, Brazil,
Switzerland, Germany, United Arab Emirates)
All donor names will be entered in a drawing for
this Limited Edition 16 X 20 canvas print signed by Lance.
The print will be shipped to the winning name
unframed.
Our Part - The LiveStrong Global
Cancer Initiative in Italy
Several years ago we came to the Tour
de France to support Lance, not so much because we had become cycling fans, but
because of our involvement with the Lance Armstrong Foundation. From our initial
involvement, it was apparent that this passionate group of amazing people was
going to make a difference in the lives of those that were diagnosed with this
dreadful disease, so we promised Lance that we would be at the Tour cheering for him in the mountains as a symbol of support,
from one cancer survivor to another.
We ended up making 5 trips to the Tour de France. When Lance made the decision
to come out of retirement to promote the LiveStrong Global Cancer Initiative and
ride the Giro in Italy, I didn't have a hard time convincing Angie that we had
to go. This will be a bit of a different trip on the cycling end
because Lance isn't really in top form to win this race after breaking his
collarbone a few weeks ago, but will instead be in a support role for the team,
which is where we've been with the LAF for almost ten years now, supporting the
team. We've also armed ourselves with LiveStrong gear, banners and flags so the
world will see the message is indeed a Global effort.
...................
Day One (really day one and a half
when you don't sleep for 36 hours)
May 21/22 Stage 13
Really long day of travel Thursday/Friday as we had some flight delays,
thanks Delta, long layover, not much sleep on the plane, finally in Rome and
then a long drive to Florence where the stage finished Friday afternoon. The
finish of the stage was set up like a carnival, literally, with a bunch of
rides, tents and the smell of something similar to deep fried funnelcakes. We
found the LiveStrong booth and met Ivan. Allison Wright had told us to look for
him and David running the booth, passing out yellow chalk, wristbands and
LiveStrong cheer cards. We got a couple of boxes of chalk for later in the
mountains and walked out on course near the finish line. We saw a couple of guys
with yellow paint and realized they were part of the Nike LiveStrong sidewalk
artists. As they painted a giant LiveStrong with the sun streaking across it on
the road, a photographer asked us if he could take our picture. Angie and I both
had LiveStrong shirts on. We chatted with Manuel and discovered he worked for
Nike in Europe and he lived in Rome. He had met several of our LAF and Nike
friends during the first few days of the race. Angie flipped through the artists
book of drawings that they had planned for the rest of the Giro. They have some
really cool road art planned.
LiveStrong booth during the Giro
We walked past the finish line for the day, got a sandwich and sat down for
lunch. The team busses were parked close behind us, near the finish line. As
soon as the riders finish, they ride directly to their bus to clean up, change,
sign a few autographs for fans, etc. We needed to meet Liz Kreutz, Lance/Astana
photographer and more importantly, a good friend and was actually the second
employee of the LAF. Liz had a computer problem a few days ago and we brought
her a couple of parts/cables. Just a little door to door delivery service from
the US to Italy. As we heard the race approaching the finish we got up and
walked to the Astana bus. Nobody makes a quicker bee-line to the bus than Lance.
Lance beats the crowd back to the
team bus
Liz got to the bus shortly after we arrived and we saw our friend
Jarred, who also works for the Astana team. Lance was the third rider to the bus
and quickly dashed in as the crowd gathered around. Chechu, who Lance refers to
as the nicest guy in the peloton, rolled up and spoke to us. Angie and I were
made the first official American members of the Chechu Rubiera Fan Club by his
sister, Carolina several years ago when we met her at the Tour. Lance and Levi
came back out of the bus after a few minutes and signed several things for the
crowd, then squeezed into the team car and left. We gave Liz her computer
parts and headed back to the car for our final travel leg of the day to Bologna,
another 2 or 3 hour drive. As we left the bus, we noticed someone had stuck a
nice bumper sticker on the back - "I'm Fighting Cancer with Lance" - Sweet!
Now who put that sticker on the
bus???
We finally got to our hotel for the next two nights in Dozza, just outside of
Bologna. It's a monastery that has been converted to a hotel. Pretty nice, but
we were beat and there appeared to be a wedding going on, so all it meant for us
was we had to park a long way from the hotel. Done, done done for the day. I'm
gonna sleep like a log on our bed which is as soft as concrete blocks. More to
come, but only after sleep........................
..........
If you enjoy reading about our
efforts in Italy, or even if you don't :-)
