Levistrong

I'm no Lance fan, if we're talking about someone who leaves his wife and is pretty arrogant in the book he wrote about himself, etc. etc. 

But I AM a Lance fan when I get to: go with my pro-road-biking friends to the Rose Bowl to watch Lance Armstrong et al ride (ZOOM) by five times, take some stinkin' cool pictures of said zooming, pick up a free "Lance Fan" Lance fan, finally wear the Livestrong bracelet I bought a few years ago because I figured it'd be a collector's item someday, AND request my own mini-sample bag of beans from the pre-race-parade Jelly Belly truck. A pretty great afternoon, in spite of feeling like total kee-rap. (really a true fan, because I braved the California winter elements in the 

midst of a really bad cold) (You're welcome, Lance.)

Oh yeah, and Levi Leipheimer was riding too, in fact he won the

 race (Amgen Tour de California or something like that). Who's Levi?

So here's how it panned out.  Some pretty cool people went out to show their support and fanatacism. 

Oh and by the way, this all took place a couple of weeks ago... oops. I was sick, come on.

moi

nate

KJ

june

Extreme John

eva (and friend)

erica

Desmond

I was very pre-race entertained by the medley of bikers and fans and faux-bikers at the event. There were a lot of bikes there, for sure...

and some REALLY sweet outfits.  The dude on the right, below,  is the best. I wish I could have seen his hair flowing in the draft of the peloton.

We picked a great spot along the side of the road, right in the action, so we could get good photos. Well, at least so I could get good photos-- that's usually my main goal, what, was there a race going on too? Huh.

So here's what happened, though: the racers were doing five laps around the Rose Bowl, and I/we spent the first two laps trying to figure out which one was Lance... left to myself, I figured he had to be in this pack in the second peloton (say it with a french accent, makes you sound cool) of bikers, because it was just so pretty.

john and erica 'in the moment'

THEN we figured out he was wearing the YELLOW jersey-- score!! Check out the sweet shot I got here! If only he was in focus, instead of that yahoo behind him-- oh well, it just makes him look faster. Go Lance! Win win!

An onlooker/fan next to me was pretty jealous of this next shot on the next lap, as were my friends. I bragged quite a bit. Also collected emails to send it out per request, since my shots were so much better. Couldn't wait for the next lap, to get even BETTER ones.

AND THEN... I was running around showing of the above picture, and receiving my due congratulations and well-wishes, when a race official (well, "side-of-the-road guard") says, "no... that's not Lance. He's wearing a yellow helmet!" (all excitedly, he was a real Lance Fan)

Oops. I showed him the shots on my camera, and... sure enough...

Who's Levi, again? I sure hadn't heard of him, which is pretty strange considering I'm such a hard-core roadbiking fan. Luckily his striking persona and chiseled jaw--and fate--drew my viewfinder to him, though, and luckily The Lance liked to keep a close second to Levi, so Lance WAS in those shots above, after all. Never mind not centered.

KJ and John having a good ol' time

FORTUNATELY, though, there were still two laps left-- and I had the sequence down, now, and my camera was on continual shutter release... 

wait for it...

wait for it...

BOOM! best shot EVER*! 

*that I have ever personally taken of Lance Armstrong riding by 

Seriously, CHECK OUT that action! The speed! The face gripped in concentration! The unreal sinew and muscle of the calves! It was pretty exciting, and not just due to the exhilaration of trying to get the best photo possible-- they were going by SO FAST, and packed so tightly...

One more-- final--shot, on the last lap:

Not as good as the one above it, even though he's there alone-- the action is better with more bikers around him, and, well... hate to say it, but he looks a little awkward.  HOWEVER... this photo is SUPER-great because, if you look closely, you'll see... John and Nate and June behind Lance! Directly across the street, Lance is exactly between them-- all a-blur, of course, due to my speed-focus-skills, but definitely there-- and June looks like she's cheering. While John (the biggest fan of all my friends, he's been to Tour de France), is looking the other way. What??? 

We'll let this next photo redeem him:

and this one: This was a posed (and lucky) shot. John cheering, oh-so-happy to be there. (and playing along, as he always does :)

SOOO great! Maybe I AM a fan! Not as much as Allan and Leilani, but a fan in my own right.

CONGRATULATIONS LANCE! 

Oh yeah, and Levi too-- good job winning the race, I guess.

_________________________

p.s. Second-Best Part of the day:

(look closely and you'll see my yellow Livestrong bracelet. And, under it, 

my orange "I (heart) the King" bracelet from Thailand. Figured if 

I was going to wear one, I should wear the other.)

And if you could look even MORE closely, you'd see that my baglet of jelly beans is unopened... and looking into the FUTURE, you'd see that's it's STILL unopened. Not because I'm saving it to for posterity's sake, but because I haven't eaten sugar in over three weeks! With that kind of willpower, I should be a road-bike-racer myself.. watch out Lance! And/or Levi.

kj's happiest moment

FINAL FINAL SHOT: 

MAN that's a lot of bikes.