I volunteered with the Portland Velo club at the 1st reststop at the LiveStrong Challenge. About 40 people showed up on a rainy miserable day to "see Lance" and give a helping hand.
Well, we got to see Lance as he turned the corner and gave us a wave. Turns out he wasn't the one that inspired me today.
Working the rest-stop I jumped on handing out the PowerBars. It was 10 miles into the ride and you could tell these folks needed some movitation in the freezing rain. Well, when you try to provide some inspiration, you find that you'll get alot more inspiration in return.
LiveStrong is the riders who aren't typically bike riders. They are doing the ride for a reason or a person. They were all in different abilities, shapes, sizes, and personalities. They wore signs that said "Survivor". Lord knows what kind of story they had - there wasn't enough time to find out as they stood in the pouring rain and grabbing a PowerBar for some physical energy. However, you could tell there was no doubt they would finish the ride. They had a reason inside them that was driving them to complete that ride today.
There was one fellow in particular. He was an odd duck - everyone was wondering who is this guy talking to. But, when you listened to his story, you saw his "passion for life". Young kid, must have been in his twenties, from Modesto CA, obviously was expecting sunny weather because he was definitely not dressed for the occasion. Testicular cancer survivor - he was proud to show the scar on his belly. He had no idea what idea he was doing on that bike, but as he rode off there was no doubt in my mind that he would finish. He was proud and full of passion for life.
Met Chris Carmichael, Lance's coach, as you can see from the photo below. Lance canceled out on the speech he was going to give at 1pm. However, there was no disappointment in me. I already met and saw plenty of people that LiveStrong everyday.
A day a today confirms that saying, "give alittle to others and you'll receive more in return".
Now that's LivingStrong!!!!
Another amazing story that was posted.....
The last rider to finish was a cancer survivor who road alone through the rain and wind for most of the day. At one point she was at least 5 miles behind the next to last rider. Often moving along at barely a walking pace, with inspiring fortitude she never wavered in her determination to finish. A sag wagon stayed with her and even offered to give her a ride back when it seemed she was not going to make it. She replied, "I've got three hours until the course closes, I'm going to keep going". And she did. She finished the 70 mile course in just under 8 hours, long after most of the participants had gone home. Maybe the second hardest thing she's done in her life. You know what the hardest thing was.
