Lance having few laughs with us before we started TT.
Photo by R. WrighthouseLance hammer up Scenic Point
Lance gives me directions on Queen K Hwy! LOL!
Lance flying with traffic.
Finish at Kukio Rd. Hanging out with training buddy Thad.
Today was a day that I will never forget. Lance Armstrong invited local community to a TT ride along Queen K Hwy from Waikoloa Rd to Kukio Rd. About 13miles. The wind today was crazy but to our advantage, tail wind! We all lined up at the intersection of the highway hoping nobody would be hit by passing cars. Lance rolls up and we all start cheering. He chats with us for awhile and does his twitter video before we start. You can see me in background with my camera videotaping from my perspective.
We all spread out to start in 60second intervals. Of course the 7x Tour de France winner had the honors of heading out into the tail wind first! Followed by pro triathlete Chris Leito then us little weekend warriors! This was an honor system of timing per Lance's request. Honor system? Whatever.... as soon as Lance took off Chris said see ya... and left 30 seconds behind Lance. Oh and I was the honorary starter of this TT. Then after Chris left I sent everyone off in 15 second intervals!! What a rush!! and yours truly was last to start! (35 second interval for me)
At one point Lance hit 55mph along the stretch of highway before the end of TT. However Chris Leito was catching up with Lance. Lance won by 18 seconds I believe. So Chris gained about 12 seconds on Lance.
What an honor it was to ride with a legend today. Not many people can say they lined up with Lance for a TT! Humbling experience for sure.
What an honor it was to ride with a legend today. Not many people can say they lined up with Lance for a TT! Humbling experience for sure.
My mom asked me if this experience tops my Kona Ironman experiences?
Pretty darn close I told her.
Lance is on his Comeback 2.0. Looking for #8 come July in France.
Don't be surprised if you see Lance at the 2011 Kona Ironman World Triathlon Championship as a competitor!
"For me, living life to the fullest is a lot about testing myself; accepting challenges, training hard, and then going for it". Lance Armstrong
Mahalo Lance for the Ride of a Life Time!
Aloha from Kona
Patrick
2 comments:
It's great how a little race like that can take a person's experience of triathlon up to a new level. I remember doing a Peaman race in which Conrad Stoltz also competed. I just spent $9 purchasing a bicycle. I still dream of one day forking out 5 grand for an Argon 18. Hope I will still be able to ride the bike when I can afford to buy it.
You are so fortunate to have been there, this was all over the internet yesterday..very cool!
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