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Kit Cischke's Journal
Lance vs. Leadville
posted by KitC at 03:01 AM on August 11, 2008
While Lance Armstrong was winning his 7 Tours de France, I remember seeing a picture of him riding a NORBA event at Mt. Snow. I was astonished. I didn't realize he would do something like that. Some people dismissed the picture and babbled about how they dumbed down the course, and he didn't do well and on and on. I mostly forgot about it.
A couple years ago, Nike had a great ad with Lance on a mountain bike as part of their Wear Yellow campaign. I grabbed the image almost immediately and used it as a background for a long time (and still do, from time to time). I bought the jersey he was wearing in that picture. I don't think most people even knew the image existed.
This year, Armstrong raced the Leadville 100, a particularly challenging ultra-endurance event. Floyd Landis rode it last year, and came in second to a very strong Dave Wiens. Chris Carmichael is probably to blame for the popularity of the race recently, and for convincing Lance to do it. Rather than seeing Armstrong as validating ultra-endurance off-road cycling, or mountain biking in general, they dismiss it as a publicity stunt, and blather about how he can't win unless he doping "just like he did during the Tour". It's like you can't make people happy.
Armstrong came in second to an even strong Dave Wiens. They smashed course records. Armstrong showed he is still a tremendous athlete, but doesn't quite have the kick of 2005. He's got a great aerobic engine, and is no slouch in the handling department.
Is Armstrong perfect? No. Does his personal life seem like a bit of a mess or circus these days? Certainly. Is he still my cycling hero? Absolutely.
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