The Last Time I Raced Against Lance Armstrong.
I came up through cycling in the US with some big hitters. I was in the same generation of riders as Bobby Julich, Tyler Hamilton, and, notably, Lance Armstrong.
I raced against those guys from the time I was a teenager. They were on the national team and I wanted to be on it too. I was never quite good enough to make it however.
But, in the chasing of that goal, I saw them all over the country at difference races. And I'll tell you as an insider, Lance was ALWAYS good! He was schooling us when we were 17.
That generation of riders, me included, made the jump to Europe in the early 90's. I still remember my last race against Lance here on US soil.
_______________________
The Fitchburg stage race is a long standing tradition in the northeast. It started as a prestigious one day criterium and blossomed into a full on stage race.
It attracted the big hitters after a while and turned into a regular who's who of American Pro cycling.
One year Lance showed up. I had raced against him a few times already that year so I was kind of used to seeing him around.
He was brash, cocky and had a foul mouth. But fast as hell.
The first day of the race was a time trial. I brought my time trial bike as it was a good course for that. It was raining so the start ramp was slippery. I was read. Skinsuit. Aero helmet. Shoe covers.
The starter counted me down. 3, 2, 1. GO! I stomped on the pedals and started down the ramp. I was pushing the pedals so hard, too excited I guess, that my back wheel skittered and, before I knew it, I was sliding down the start ramp on my butt with my bike on top of me.
I jumped up, laughed nervously as I gave the officials a thumbs up and stormed off into my ride. The result was un-notable. I think Lance won.
The next day was a circuit race that featured an enormous hill in it. After a few hours it was sure to soften everyone up. Lance had his guys on the front escorting us around the course. There were futile attacks on the hill every lap.
In pro cycling you spend a lot of time during the race taking care of yourself. This means cramming food in your face whenever you have a moment and drinking at least a bottle per hour.
And that much drinking leads to peeing. You get good at peeing off the bike or, if the race is slow, stopping and taking care of business really quickly.
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It seemed like every time I turned around Lance was peeing.
__________________
The final day of the race was another road race. It was a lumpy circuit that, on the last lap, would finish up on top of a small local ski area.
It was raining again. Lance was peeing again. The race was fast again.
I did my work for my team as long as possible until I was dropped, and then I took my place in the grouppetto. Also referred to as the laughing group now and then. Though I've never been sure why. There's seldom any laughing involved.
It was 4th of July that day so, among the Americans in the grouppetto, the mood was light. We were riding just hard enough to make the time cut but, not so hard that it was totally unpleasant.
So, naturally, there was chatting.
About the beer we were gonna have after the race. Or the bratwursts. Or what race we were going to next.
As we approached the finish, one of the guys in the group shouts "Happy 4th of July boys!"
Now, it's worth mentioning that not every rider in the group was an American. There were a few British riders on US teams present as well. So he then turns to them and says:
"Oh... sorry guys. This is probably kind of a black day for you, isn't it?!"
The entire group of riders exploded into laughter.
I raced against those guys from the time I was a teenager. They were on the national team and I wanted to be on it too. I was never quite good enough to make it however.
But, in the chasing of that goal, I saw them all over the country at difference races. And I'll tell you as an insider, Lance was ALWAYS good! He was schooling us when we were 17.
That generation of riders, me included, made the jump to Europe in the early 90's. I still remember my last race against Lance here on US soil.
_______________________
The Fitchburg stage race is a long standing tradition in the northeast. It started as a prestigious one day criterium and blossomed into a full on stage race.
It attracted the big hitters after a while and turned into a regular who's who of American Pro cycling.
One year Lance showed up. I had raced against him a few times already that year so I was kind of used to seeing him around.
He was brash, cocky and had a foul mouth. But fast as hell.
The first day of the race was a time trial. I brought my time trial bike as it was a good course for that. It was raining so the start ramp was slippery. I was read. Skinsuit. Aero helmet. Shoe covers.
The starter counted me down. 3, 2, 1. GO! I stomped on the pedals and started down the ramp. I was pushing the pedals so hard, too excited I guess, that my back wheel skittered and, before I knew it, I was sliding down the start ramp on my butt with my bike on top of me.
I jumped up, laughed nervously as I gave the officials a thumbs up and stormed off into my ride. The result was un-notable. I think Lance won.
The next day was a circuit race that featured an enormous hill in it. After a few hours it was sure to soften everyone up. Lance had his guys on the front escorting us around the course. There were futile attacks on the hill every lap.
In pro cycling you spend a lot of time during the race taking care of yourself. This means cramming food in your face whenever you have a moment and drinking at least a bottle per hour.
And that much drinking leads to peeing. You get good at peeing off the bike or, if the race is slow, stopping and taking care of business really quickly.
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
It seemed like every time I turned around Lance was peeing.
__________________
The final day of the race was another road race. It was a lumpy circuit that, on the last lap, would finish up on top of a small local ski area.
It was raining again. Lance was peeing again. The race was fast again.
I did my work for my team as long as possible until I was dropped, and then I took my place in the grouppetto. Also referred to as the laughing group now and then. Though I've never been sure why. There's seldom any laughing involved.
It was 4th of July that day so, among the Americans in the grouppetto, the mood was light. We were riding just hard enough to make the time cut but, not so hard that it was totally unpleasant.
So, naturally, there was chatting.
About the beer we were gonna have after the race. Or the bratwursts. Or what race we were going to next.
As we approached the finish, one of the guys in the group shouts "Happy 4th of July boys!"
Now, it's worth mentioning that not every rider in the group was an American. There were a few British riders on US teams present as well. So he then turns to them and says:
"Oh... sorry guys. This is probably kind of a black day for you, isn't it?!"
The entire group of riders exploded into laughter.
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