Thursday, July 20, 2006
The day I said hi to Lance Armstrong.
Today is Wednesday, July 19th. Yesterday we (Liz, Sara, and I) had just settled in to our very nice hotel in Grenoble, France. It was such a relief, since we had spent Monday night on Alpe d’Huez. We went up on Monday, as early as we could, and found a “spot” around noon. We were camped for the next 28-30 hours just above turn 9 on the way to the top.
During the day, we made friends with our “neighbors,” like the Dutch family of three who spoke just a bit of English. We made acquaintance with two men from England, who spoke English with such a heavy accent that I had to ask them more than once to repeat themselves. We invited an Australian girl to put her things down and hang out at our spot -- which she and another friend of hers did for the entire time.
Going past our place on the road on Monday afternoon were LOTS of cyclists, those who wanted to make the same climb that the pros were going to make on Tuesday. I know it is fierce work for anyone, pros or amateurs alike. Liz and I had walked down to turn 12, and then we walked back up, and that made us hot and sweaty, and I knew it was very, very hard. I have asked cyclists if it helps to be cheered, encouraged, even by strangers like myself, and most say, “yes.” For that reason, when I had time to kill, I watched the cyclists come past me. I’d tell them, “Allez, allez!” or “Keep going! You’re doing great!” I heard plenty of thank yous, MERCIS, and just plain, “Thanks!” I felt like it was encouraging, and I liked doing it.
There is something that we’ve seen over here, too, that is a hot weather cooler: canned water! It is a refreshing spray, and it costs about 6 euros for a can of water. Amazing that people will not only buy bottled water, but now they will buy it in aerosol.
So, we had been asking if cyclists wanted a spray, and we got plenty of YESSES! Because of the cost, we decided to hold off spraying them all, and Liz and Sara went to sit down. (Sara probably went off to study -- she does that all the time!) And then, I recognized a Discovery jersey, along with two other riders. I watched as they came up the hill toward me. I just figured I’d cheer them like I’d been doing. Then, as they got near me, I suddenly saw a familiar face! It was LANCE ARMSTRONG! Seeing him approaching me, right in front of me, I didn’t think anything, except to say, quite naturally and casually, “Hi, Lance.” And then, he said, “Hi.” And he proceeded up the mountain.
Amazing! The girls even heard me and then him with this very common interaction -- not even that, actually -- but just a greeting. But there had been NO ONE who had said he would be coming up the mountain on a bike. He was scheduled to be in Gap, but we had left before the announced time so that we could find our spot. NO ONE was saying, “Hey, there’s LANCE!” And I had just seen him. Yes, I was starstruck -- but not struck dumb. I spoke, I was stunned afterward! Wow -- how cool!
During the day, we made friends with our “neighbors,” like the Dutch family of three who spoke just a bit of English. We made acquaintance with two men from England, who spoke English with such a heavy accent that I had to ask them more than once to repeat themselves. We invited an Australian girl to put her things down and hang out at our spot -- which she and another friend of hers did for the entire time.
Going past our place on the road on Monday afternoon were LOTS of cyclists, those who wanted to make the same climb that the pros were going to make on Tuesday. I know it is fierce work for anyone, pros or amateurs alike. Liz and I had walked down to turn 12, and then we walked back up, and that made us hot and sweaty, and I knew it was very, very hard. I have asked cyclists if it helps to be cheered, encouraged, even by strangers like myself, and most say, “yes.” For that reason, when I had time to kill, I watched the cyclists come past me. I’d tell them, “Allez, allez!” or “Keep going! You’re doing great!” I heard plenty of thank yous, MERCIS, and just plain, “Thanks!” I felt like it was encouraging, and I liked doing it.
There is something that we’ve seen over here, too, that is a hot weather cooler: canned water! It is a refreshing spray, and it costs about 6 euros for a can of water. Amazing that people will not only buy bottled water, but now they will buy it in aerosol.
So, we had been asking if cyclists wanted a spray, and we got plenty of YESSES! Because of the cost, we decided to hold off spraying them all, and Liz and Sara went to sit down. (Sara probably went off to study -- she does that all the time!) And then, I recognized a Discovery jersey, along with two other riders. I watched as they came up the hill toward me. I just figured I’d cheer them like I’d been doing. Then, as they got near me, I suddenly saw a familiar face! It was LANCE ARMSTRONG! Seeing him approaching me, right in front of me, I didn’t think anything, except to say, quite naturally and casually, “Hi, Lance.” And then, he said, “Hi.” And he proceeded up the mountain.
Amazing! The girls even heard me and then him with this very common interaction -- not even that, actually -- but just a greeting. But there had been NO ONE who had said he would be coming up the mountain on a bike. He was scheduled to be in Gap, but we had left before the announced time so that we could find our spot. NO ONE was saying, “Hey, there’s LANCE!” And I had just seen him. Yes, I was starstruck -- but not struck dumb. I spoke, I was stunned afterward! Wow -- how cool!
