A Full Cycle of The Lance Armstrong Chronicles

Last night, while T sorted through a stack of her old Paris photos, I sat in front of the tube engrossed in The Outdoor Life Network's all night tribute to Lance Armstrong, who will be competing for an unprecedented sixth Tour de France victory in a few weeks. OLN aired back-to-back episodes of The Lance Armstrong Chronicles and each one was a real gem. Apparently, Lance loves to drink Peet's coffee (and only Peet's) on the morning of a race. Five time Tour winner, cancer survivor, Subaru pitchman, fellow Texan AND fellow Peet's snob? Lance rocks. During an annual group retreat last year at the Ritz Carlton resort at Half Moon Bay, Gordy, our managing director and an avid cyclist and marathon runner, invited an old childhood friend to give us a capstone speech on motivation and teamwork. His friend happened to be Frankie Andreu, former captain of the United States Postal Service teams that helped Lance win his first two Tours in 1999 and 2000. He had some great anecdotes about riding in nine straight Tours de France (a current American record) and about his last two years as captain. After showing us a hilarious old photo of him and Gordy as adolescent riders in a junior cycling competition (Gordy came in first and Frankie came in second), he presented some amusing video clips, including his "personal favorite", an ESPN SportsCenter lead-in of one of his spills on the Italian Alps. Apparently, it is the most played crash sequence in professional cycling history. Well, maybe second most after the dramatic spill during last year's Tour when a spectator's bag snagged the right handlebar of Lance's bike during a critical mountain ascent.