I’ve mentioned several times to many of you out there about how much I love living in Southern California. It is my home, and it affords me a cavalcade of opportunities I may not get in other parts of the country. This past weekend I was lucky enough to participate in something so amazing (I sure use that word a lot) it can easily be listed in the top five moments of my life.
To put it simply: I went on a bike ride with Lance Armstrong.
Let that sink it. Now let me expound.
I am on Twitter and one of the many posters I follow is Mr. Armstrong. A few Monday’s ago, in between dater interviews on our stage, I checked for recent updates. Lance posted a Tweet stating, “The first 100 people to respond to [this email] get to ride with me in Hollywood this weekend.” Well, fuck script notes, I am responding to this ASAP. The following day, I received an email from an Allison Wright at LIVESTRONG and the Lance Armstrong Foundation saying I was not one of the first one hundred to respond. Oh well, no worries. It would have been cool, but what can you do. I was busying working and didn’t see it until too late.
However to my most pleasant surprise, Wednesday afternoon I checked my Yahoo! email and there is was:
You were patient and you waited - and guess what....we have more spots available for this weekend's ride! Congratulations!
I got in! I get to ride with Lance down Sunset Blvd. for Hope Rides Again. Hope Rides Again is the introduction to “Stages” which is an art collection created by prominent modern artists. These twenty-one artists (representing the twenty-one stages of the Tour de France) will create a piece of art about the LIVESTRONG fight against cancer and/or Lance’s return to cycling. (I believe the list of artists has now grown to over thirty.) The pieces will premiere at the Tour de France and will then make their way around the world for everyone to see while going on sale. All proceeds go to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
I arrived in Hollywood around 4:30 in the afternoon. I parked near the finish and cruised to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles where I checked in and got my yellow t-shirt for the ride. In total, there were between two and three hundred of us riding that afternoon. To say I was excited was an understatement.
Selfishly, I didn’t realize just how important this ride was until right before go time when we pulled out onto the closed down Sunset Blvd. There was a stage set up, painted with a backdrop of the real sunset.
All of sudden, a light panel the size of a VW bus sitting a top a crane blasted the sea of yellow. Then the mayor of Hollywood, Antonio Villaraigosa, took the stage to kick off the evening. He was followed by a member of the Children’s Hospital board of directors, and then finally Lance. Lance gave a rousing speech about the event about to take place. His phone rang twice during his introduction, which he responded “Wow, I can’t believe I’m that guy at my own event.” During this speech is when I realized this was not just a cool moment of my life, but it was rather a statement to raise awareness for cancer. Of course, I knew that going in, but the significance of the bike ride began to sink in. Having lost my own grandfather to cancer a year and a half ago, made being a part of this experience became more important than riding with a hero. What Hope Rides Again stands for was of a greater magnitude than just going on a bike ride with a living legend.
Upon the conclusion of Lance’s talk, event organizers tore the stage down and we began to ride. Cruising down the lined street was awe-inspiring. A camera truck led our peloton down the boulevard. People cheered and clapped to all of us proud enough to come out and participate in this momentous occasion.
We finished at Selma and Vine out in front of the Montalban Theater. Overshadowing the bike valet was the first piece to introduce “Stages”; Sheppard Fairey covered the side of the theater with a mural of Lance exhibiting his fight in cycling, in his own personal life, and his fight for a cure for cancer.
We entered the theater where there was a display of the bike Lance rode in the Tour of California, the first auctionable piece of the “Stages” exhibit which was the bike he is going to ride in the Tour de France, and the bike he rode for this demonstration. I will let the photos speak for themselves; words couldn’t do the artwork justice.
Photos from Lance’s personal photographer occupied the three video screens while cause supporters wandered around the venue before being asked by recording to take our seats for the presentation. Once in place, a voice made the announcement, “And now Ben Stiller” to which at first received lukewarm applause before we all realized Ben Stiller was actually there. I think we all thought it was a joke because none of us expected it. Ben spoke for about ten minutes about how he met Lance and what Lance’s cause meant to him and what it meant for us to be a part of it before introducing the men of the hour.
Follow Ben Stiller’s opening remarks, Doug Ulman, president of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Nike CEO Mark Parker, and of course Lance Armstrong took the stage to discuss how LIVESTRONG got started and they spoke of everything from the little yellow, rubber wristbands (which are made in China, the same place the Dalai Llama gets his made) to where they hope to take the foundation in years to come. After Mr. Parker made his adieu, Sheppard Fairey filled the empty directors chair, and the current three gentlemen discussed how the “Stages” art exhibit originated. At the end, Doug hosted a Q&A with a few random questions from audience members. (Did you know Lance grew up as a swimming and got into cycling when he tried his first triathilon at the age of thirteen?)
Lance took the mic for closing remarks where he confessed to everyone he wasn’t sure exactly how to end the evening. He felt he would slight all of the participants if he just said his goodbyes and we all huddled out of the theater. He informed us he had a nice little gift for us all, so sit tight and he would return shortly after they reset the stage. We were tided over by a short LIVESTRONG film about the effects of cancer around the world. Upon completion, Lance took the stage one last time to announce how much in the same way he called Ben Stiller to come down to introduce him, Lance had called another friend, not knowing if he was in town to help (luckily he was) to close the show. After a short pause, Lance stated oh so matter of factly: “Ladies and gentle, Ben Harper and The Relentless 7.”
No
Fucking
Way.
The masses were treated to a spur of the moment free concert by Ben Harper’s new band. Easily the best way to end this momentus and meaningful event known as Hopes Rides again.
Unfortunately, like Lance, I’m not really sure how to bring this all to and end. I don’t have any famous musician friends around I can really call to record a live performance on such short notice to link to the last paragraph. Like I said earlier, this was easily one of the top moments of my life, not only because I got to ride with not only one of the greatest cyclists in the world, but my vote as the greatest athlete of our generation, but I was able to participate in such an important event for cancer awareness.
The heart is something you can’t control… We either choose to follow or be left on our own…
