Yesterday, Lance Armstrong sent out a Twitter message to his followers: "Hey Vermont - let's ride!! 4pm in Waterbury. Corner of Main St & Warren Ct at what looks like a park to me (on Google Earth). #twitterride!" He was coming to town to speak last night at a fundraiser for the Mary Haas Ovarian Cancer Foundation at the nearby Sugarbush Resort.
I didn't pick up the Tweet (I don't monitor Twitter due to volume) but a local bike shop owner posted it on Facebook. I emailed a friend who doesn't follow FB or Twitter but who is a good cyclist and once raced against Lance. He grabbed his bike and was among the several hundred who took a ride with Armstrong along a scenic road in Central Vermont, accompanied by press and others. I had another commitment but was there in spirit.
Of course, anyone who follows cycling knows that Lance, like most superstars, has plenty of warts. It's sad to see the stream of vitriolic comments any writeup of his visit gets -- just angry stuff about doping, dumping wives and girlfriends, flying on private jets, abusing his nonprofit status, appearance fees ... it's sad. Hey, we know he's far from perfect, but he is raising millions of dollars for cancer research, making countless people much more aware of cancer, and supporting through example thousands of cancer survivors.
The Burlington Free Press has a nice article on the ride. In it, they mention a non-cyclist who was there:
"Among the non-cyclists was Waterbury Police Chief Joby Feccia, who in July finished chemotherapy for his second bout with leukemia in five years.
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Photo by Paul Coster (Australia, 2009)
