As a participant in the Portland LiveSTRONG Challenge ride the last Saturday in July I received many blessings and treats. To set the stage, the LiveSTRONG Challenge is part of Lance Armstrong Foundation’s (“LAF”) continuing effort to fight cancer, on all fronts. First with knowledge and encouragement of persons living with the disease (whether as patient or loved one), and second with lots of funds for cancer research. Last year, the LAF doled out some $21 Million in research grants, and spent an additional $16 Million on education programs. Another thing I really like about LAF is that the compensation paid to the five highest paid officers amounted to about $500,000. This seems low to me for an organization that generated gross revenue, from contributions, programs, and the sale of program related goods, in the amount of $65 Million (2005). By the way, Lance is one of many directors who serve without compensation.
This year’s LiveSTRONG Challenge ride in Portland raised about $1.3 Million for LAF. I participated in the 100 mile ride that started at Portland Meadows just off I-5 at Jantzen Beach. From there the course took us up the Columbia River to Troutdale, where a right turn took us south to the hill country of Clackamas County. The Challenge also offered 70 and 40 mile options, as well as 5K and 10K walk/run alternatives.
Three great things happened on the ride. First, I got to meet a young man named Jimmy. Jimmy is about 13 years old. Last April he diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor, and had brain surgery the very next day. Chemotherapy and radiation followed. And yet, here was Jimmy, lined up to ride 40 miles. LAF recognized Jimmy’s courage and invited him to speak briefly before the ride began. He’s a pretty cool kid.
The next great thing was meeting a fellow rider named Chris. Chris is about forty-something, and rides competitively with a Portland area team. He started getting beat by riders he usually outpaced in the local race scene. When his energy level continued to drop he went to the doctor, who immediately admitted him to the ER. Leukemia was the diagnosis. This was earlier this spring, and as we rode 100 miles together Chris told me how things were going with his continuing treatment, etc. It was completely amazing how hard I had to work to keep up with Chris on a two (2) mile five to six percent (5-6%) grade climb. The guy was amazing. So was his treatment which allowed him to remain in super shape.
The last thing that is worthy of remark is the opportunity to ride side by side with Lance himself for a mile or two towards the start of the ride. At the send off, Lance and a few VIPs were released twenty or thirty seconds before the 70 and 100 mile riders. The gap closed very quickly, and after just a couple minutes I was the seventh or eighth rider behind Lance, who was leading the quickly growing peloton. As I caught on so did throngs of other riders, all with the shared objective of getting close to Lance. As we rolled out onto Marine Drive atop the dike that separates the Columbia River from Portland International Airport the peloton congealed into a cohesive form that filled one and a half lanes of the two lane road. Over the first 10 miles or so riders were able to work their way up to the front to greet Lance. Most stayed next to Lance for a few minutes before peeling off to let the next guy come forward. All the while the tightly formed peloton moved at a comfortable 23 miles per hour. From my positions at tenth wheel, then fifth wheel, then third, etc., we were moving quite effortlessly.
When my turn came I chatted with Lance about his work fighting cancer, his busy schedule, and other such mundane things I could think of. I was so pumped I really did freak out, well, sort of. I’d wanted to ask him about his kids. Everyone likes talking about their kids, but that line of questioning escaped me. I’d also wanted to ask Lance whether he’d been to Kell’s Irish Pub in downtown Portland, and whether Rick Reilly is as funny in person as he is his weekly Sports Illustrated column. I was undecided about asking whether he’d heard from his friend Ivan Basso. Gone were all these seemingly great ideas. After a few minutes chatting about his crazy schedule and the logistics involved in moving from town to town I thanked him for all he’s done to fight cancer and to encourage patients to take up the fight. He noticed all the names of friends whose names were written on my jersey, and I explained the names were folks who were either fought or were fighting cancer. After several minutes and a pleasant “take care” I dropped back into the gut of the peloton.
Watching Lance on his bike was really a thing of beauty. He sat absolutely motionless while gliding up the road. One thing you don’t really see on television is just how much faster his cadence is than that of everyone. I do not have a cadence sensor and consequently am unable to guess what pace Lance was spinning his pedals. Clearly, however, he was spinning at least 50% faster than nearly every other rider.
I give the LiveSTRONG Challenge ride a five yellow jersey rating. The course was excellent. While we had a few steep pitches, including a short one that registered as an 18% incline on my VDO cycle computer (thanks Jeff and Mike), there were some great descents that resembled the descent from Sunrise on Mt. Rainier, though not as long. The support for the ride was awesome. Plenty of power bars, gels, sandwiches, bananas, fruit, water, and energy drinks at each of the eight or nine rest stops scattered over the course. Almost each of the stops had mechanical support, compliments of Bicycle Gallery of Portland. This worked really well for the chain repair I needed. To cap off the ride the organizers and sponsors hosted a party complete with the real food a rider craves (pizza, fruit salad, burrito wraps, pasta) and plenty of Shiner beer to wash it all down. Live county music (sans Cheryl) and various presentations kept the party going. They even offered free prostate cancer screenings, complete with PSA and DRE testing (a $350 value). (I’m calling my own doc for some follow up monitoring.)
It was a thrill to have the opportunity to ride with Lance for a mile or so, but it was also very impressive what people living with cancer are able to achieve. I lost my father to cancer, and my two sisters have done their battles with it as well. My suspicion is that you have several friends and/or family members whose lives have been touched by cancer. The opportunity to ride with living, breathing, spinning cancer fighters, even while undergoing treatment, was the real treat of the ride.
Written by - Mat Anderton