This was not the only thing I had to wrap my head around. About a month ago, a friend of mine and I started a local Livestrong Army chapter here in El Paso. The goal being to raise funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation through organized running/cycling events. Rumors were flying around that Lance may race, even though the UCI was trying everything in its power to stop him (something I will never understand). Either way, our Army was brand new, we hadn't had any materials printed for a booth and were still waiting on a lot of items to be mailed from the foundation. Pending all of this we had decided to skip the Gila, which gave me time for my assignment. However, with just two days before the start of the race someone had contacted the foundation asking if there was going to be a presence there and could he help in any way.
I got an email Wednesday morning, the day the race actually started. "Hi Rebecca, do you think you could set something up for us? Justin from New Mexico is willing to help out." Um...sure, why not since I don't anything else to do! It's funny how when something is meant to happen, how easily things fall into place. After a long afternoon of being on the phone for hours on end, everything was set into place. We had a location for our booth, a tent and table provided for us on site, while I spent most of the night before heading to Silver City printing name tags, business cards, and putting together binders filled with information about the LAF for those who would be running the booth while I was out reporting. Needless to say I didn't get ANY sleep that night, and what's worse, Silver City morning news had called and asked me for an interview at 7:15 a.m.! Sure, this would be great to help get the word out but I would be on television after driving from El Paso with little to no sleep. Nice!
I had arranged a carpool, driving Melisa, Evelyn and Ricardo up to the race with me that first day. "We're leaving NO LATER than 4 am folks!" 3:45 a.m. Ricardo calls, "I haven't slept any, have you?” Nope. “Someone else needs to drive." No matter how much I prepare for a trip I am NEVER on time when its time to leave. Everyone arrived on time at my house yet we didn't end up leaving until nearly 5 am because of me. Great, this means we would have to haul ass to make it in time for my interview. I drove to Deming until it was absolutely necessary that I get some shut eye, "can you girls wake me up in 20 minutes?" All the while Ricardo had been sleeping soundly in the back...must be nice! I woke up after what seemed like 2 hours when in reality it had been about 25 minutes, "What time is it?" 7 a.m., we were still outside of Silver City and I had to be on the air in 15 minutes. CRAP! At this point I was so tired I didn't really care if I made the interview. No, no, we needed this. I had no make-up on, I had done my hair but I looked like death rolled over. I phoned the reporter, "Rebecca? Yes, we're on the air, get here as soon as you can!" "How far away are we?" "Probably 10 minutes?" Hmm, just enough time for me to get ready. Five minutes later we rolled up to the station...crap! I felt so disorganized, after throwing some make-up on and contacts, I grabbed my binder with all the speaking points I had wanted to make and ran upstairs. Wish me luck guys!
"Are you Rebecca? Great, have you been on television before?" "Yes, yes, I understand the deal." "Ok great, there is a black 'X', when she calls you up sit at the black 'X' and look at the camera on your right." Gotcha. Damn it, it was 7:20, we were supposed to meet Beverly and Rachel from the Gila Regional Medical Center at 7:30 a.m. at the finish line to set up the booth! Great...I had forgotten to tell the guys and now they had to wait for me to finish the interview, I had left my phone in the car so I couldn't call Beverly to let her know. The morning show was very small and quaint. Filming with what looked like a home video camera, with the weather report on a print out from the Internet, I sat waiting on a couch...yes folks welcome to Silver City. Either way I was thankful to have been invited. They introduced me as I quickly took my spot to begin. "We're here to support and raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which was founded by Lance in 1999.."SHIT I mean, crap..."1997, excuse me, after he was diagnosed with cancer. We're also here to support his return to the professional peloton, come stop by our booth and say hi or volunteer if you'd like!" Quick, and to the point. Besides that little mess up, I think I did ok. "Thank you Rebecca, now for our weather.." I quickly said my thanks, grabbed my notebook and ran downstairs...time? 7:43 a.m. Late yet again!
"How did it go?" As I opened the van..."um, great, very small production but hopefully some people saw it." "You're phone has been ringing off the hook, we didn't know if we should answer it." Lovely. On to Tyrone...as I'm on the phone w/ Rachel, "Yes, I'm sorry we're on our way." We arrived and right away saw team Mellow Johnny's trailer, Trek/Livestrong were setting up along with Colavita. "Yea yea, just park here, we'll be fine." Once we parked I didn't know where to go, what to do first. Ricardo right away was seeing a lot of people he knew so he disappeared very quickly. Nice, thanks buddy! I noticed Liz Kreutz off in the distance. I had brought some Starbucks for her after reading some tweets about looking for coffee the day before. I signed it, "From El Paso Livestrong Army, enjoy!" We still hadn't known for sure if Lance knew we were going to be there. Perhaps Liz wouldn’t mind passing the message along? I hurriedly walked over to the trailer..."Good Morning Liz, I brought this for you. I'm on your twitter site." "Oh wow! Cool, thank you so much! Wait, we've got to take a picture together so I can post this on Twitter." Cool :) "What should I say? How do you spell your name? Okay, 'Rebecca from EP Livestrong brought me coffee, friends for life!' that work?" Sure! "Thanks!" Hehe friends for life. :) Okay, now to go set up the booth.
Still, no Ricardo. Ugh, can't worry about that now. Ricard from the New Mexico tourism board came by. "Hi Rebecca, is this location ok? Let me know if you need anything else." We had been set up right next to the official’s trailer where all the times would be posted. Hopefully this would generate more people for our booth since there were not many booths set up that day. Most organizations were waiting for the following day to set up, during the Criterium that would be held in downtown Silver City. No biggie, there would be plenty of people out. Once we got things set up I got my binder together, made sure my voice recorder was working, along with my video and 35 mm camera. Yes, I only have two hands but I had to make sure I got as much material as possible. "Hey, need any help?" Ricardo asked. Oh wow, nice of you to show! Actually, I was happy to have him with me. He was the reason why I had gotten into the sport in the first place. He owned his own bike shop and was a mechanic so I was hopeful he would go around with me doing interviews and give me pointers. However, one I was out there I began to freeze. We ran into Ivan, and Porras, some other good friends. "Hey Becca! Are you ready? Who are you interviewing first? Axel is over there, but you should also talk to Lucas Haedo." They were all listing stats, giving me ideas of what I should ask...all of the while all I could think of was numbers and names and who was who. Great, how am I going to get through this?!? "You need to just jump in there! Don't get so star struck!" All of a sudden I was wishing I was alone like in California, without this added pressure from my friends. I appreciated their help but it was really overwhelming me. "Thanks guys, I'll be back."
I was so nervous and frozen I didn't know where to begin. "Just take a deep breathe, you can do this." The Livestrong/Trek team had arrived and were relaxing, getting everything ready. I must have stood by their cars for a good 15 minutes, staring down at my notebook trying to decide who was who, and what I should ask, who I should try and approach first. Then all of a sudden Ricardo shows up again, "Axel, do you have a minute?" "Yea sure, let me put this away first." Ricardo turns to me, "There, he's all yours...go do it!" What?! Damn it, I haven't even thought of what to ask...as Ricardo stands back to watch. Great, "hi Axel, thank you for talking with me. I'm from US Cycling Report." "How is your team doing in the race so far? How is the UCI rule affecting your team?" Ugh, that rule only applies to the Pro-Tour teams...nice one Rebecca! "Well, it hasn't affected our team at all because it doesn't apply to us." Nice...first interview and I've already made a big fool of myself. Wonderful, I don't really remember what he said after that. I was trying to pay attention but I was mortified. Here he was, the son of Eddy Merckx, the best cyclist in history (IMO) and I was asking these stupid questions. Great. "Okay, well good luck today. Thanks again." "Sure thing!...Taylor...let's pin that number on"
Moving on, I had to take a break. I told myself, you know the best thing to do is just pretend you're back in California. You're just here like anyone else enjoying yourself, appreciating that these guys traveled so close to your home town to race. Appreciate this opportunity and you'll do just fine! Back to the booth..."How is it going?" Evelyn asked me. Umm...good I guess. I head back out and ran into Liz again...I showed her a photo I took of Chris Horner coming in to the finish. It had been a lucky shot, in focus as he had been passing me going roughly 30 mph. "Not bad! These shots take a lot of practice." Thanks Liz :) Heading back out I figured to just walk around and take pictures to help me relax. I got some great photos of Lucas Haedo warming up but decided it wasn't the right time to ask him questions.
I arrived at the Trek/Livestrong U23 cars, set up right next to Team Mellow Johnny. Right away one notices the relaxed vibe among the group or perhaps they’re just used to this sort of thing. Many of these riders are the next big stars, their faces resembling young boys rather than professional cyclists. This is a team that is owned by Lance Armstrong to develop young American talent. I wonder what it must feel like to have to race against ones’ boss. Do you let him win or help him if the opportunity arises, or is he simply another competitor? Funny these questions come to me now, when while I was sitting in front of these guys for a good 20 minutes nothing was coming to my mind. Either way, they looked relaxed, poised for the individual time trial. The back drop was nothing but dirt and rocks…home sweet home for me but would the dryness in the air dehydrate them? How were they fairing against the altitude? Right away I recognized Axel and Phinney as their photos are everywhere. Just like in California I had put together a packet of information with photos and stats so that if the opportunity arose I would know who I was speaking with and also show them a little respect for their accomplishments. Instead, I looked like I had a lot to learn, turning around trying to study my photos. Wait, is that Ben King? Wait, no Bjorn is in the lead but that can’t be him, I can’t tell with all their gear on! All of the while a few of my friends were lined up behind me watching me embarrass myself. “Come ‘on Becca! Get in there!” Nice, now I really feel like a professional, thanks guys! “Axel, do you have a minute?” my friend Ricardo asks. “Sure thing, let me just put this in the car.” Ricardo turns around to me…”He’s all yours!”
Many times I have listened to interviews, frustrated at the journalist for not asking the proper questions or showing the person enough respect. I am a big admirer of cycling and what these men do and wanted for that to come across in my interviews. However, when I look at someone like Axel Merckx I can’t help but get star struck. Just last week I was watching Stage 12 in the 2005 Tour de France, where Axel had broken away in the mountains only to be caught by David Moncoutié. Now I was standing in front of him watching him pin Phinney’s number on his back. Besides the fact that we find ourselves in one of the smallest towns in New Mexico, who would have thought these guys would be here? Honestly, the interview happened so fast I hardly remember what I asked him, only hoping I hadn’t made a fool of myself. This was not as easy as it looks.
After a quick picture with Phinney before he jumped on the trainer for his warm up, I left to try and find Scott Nydam. Ricardo and I went to check it out, (Ricardo was responsible for getting me into this grand sport). As we were sitting outside BMC’s truck hoping for Nydam to jump out, Ricardo was drooling over the BMC frames and telling me just how much each wheel costs, why that nose was chopped off the saddle, just how much the power meters cost, etc. All very interesting but where was Nydam? I had been so focused on the European squads in California that I had completely missed him in February. This time around I was determined to meet him and see how he was doing. Reading his blog and listening to past interviews he seems to be a very passionate person who loves what he does and has a special place in his heart for the Gila. We waited a while but never saw any of the riders, figuring they had gone out on the course to warm up instead. No biggie, I’ll catch him tomorrow. I left Ricardo (still fixated on the bikes) to try and find Ben Jaques-Maynes from Bissell who lucky enough wasn’t parked too far away.
The Bissell team had a full squad competing so they had a good chance of taking the over all lead. The mechanics had Ben’s bike ready to go, #77, as other team mates were already warming up. Such a different vibe than what we had seen in California. This was my chance to get to know the American squads. Who were these men, and what stories did they have to offer? Once again, I opted to take photos instead as I had frozen up. As I was getting ready to approach one of the mechanics to see if Ben was there, I heard the commotion that Lance had arrived. “Rebecca, let’s go!” Ricardo yelled.
“Lance of Enchantement” they called it in the local papers. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny his talent or perseverance. I sat just feet away from him as he warmed up for the Time Trial. I turned around to look at the crowd and their reaction as we sat quietly watching his pedal strokes. A couple of young riders stood next to me. Part of the development squad of Felt/Slipstream, they could not have been much older than fifteen. Perhaps the next generation of big stars of cycling, here they were vying for an autograph, or just happy to be watching one of the legends of our sport warming up in front of them. This is what is special about someone like Lance. The inspiration he brings to both the weekend warrior, and the up and coming generation of professional cyclists. Soon after, he was off to the start as I left to catch a glimpse of Floyd Landis. As seems to be so often the case in the life of a professional cyclist, Floyd had served his suspension and was now back. He had been a part of one of the most successful teams in cycling history yet now he was struggling to even be noticed, not riding nearly as well as before with hardly a mention in the Tour of California and now struggling to remain in the top 50 at the Gila. At least he seemed to be having a good time, joking around with his team mates during the warm up. Recalling to memory the struggles of Pintani and Ullrich, I guess as long as one is able to ride, enjoying what they are doing, it does not matter what others believe or say. Once again I had to ask if we were indeed in New Mexico.
That first day turned out to be a big success. Even though I had frozen up in the beginning I was able to get a few questions in with Kristen Armstrong, and later Lance. Easily the biggest star in attendance, Lance was the easiest interview. Perhaps it is his wide experience with the press but I was impressed at his patience and thought he gave to each question proposed to him. “How are you feeling for the Giro?” “Feel good, feel good” he tells me. “Step by step, it’s a good first race back so I can’t complain. I didn’t have any grand expectations.” All in all a great first day, now to break down the booth, grab something to eat before heading home for some much needed shut eye only to wake up once again at 4 am to start all over.
How I wish I would have stayed in Silver City that evening. Once again we were only able to get about an hour of sleep. I could barely think I was so tired but I had a job to do so we were off once again before the sun rose. What was so special about this race was that they had all categories participating. Not only did you have the pros, but also the women’s race, and beginner categories down to Cat 4. Some cyclists had shirts that read, “I raced Lance Armstrong.” What a story to be able to tell in the future! The crit ran all day, with a citizens race sandwiched in between, just before the pros began. I had set up the Livestrong booth again but this time had many more volunteers.
Another day, another opportunity to run into Scott Nydam, instead I met a few of his team mates Chad and Martin. The squad had been on a training ride but no sign of Nydam. Hmmm, perhaps I’ll see him later that afternoon then. Stopping by Mellow Johnny’s trailer I manage to get in a few words with Chris Horner. “How is it being back racing the Gila?” “It’s great. Yea, it’s good to be back. It’s always nice coming back to a place you’ve raced before.” And won before? “Yea! Yea! [laughing] I have won this crit before,” as he turns to sign many autographs that are waiting. Roaming around on my own this time, I stopped to speak with Team Type 1. Hardly anyone was around them, remembering in California how they easily rode by people as fans would say, “oh yea they are the diabetes team” but had anyone actually stopped to ask what that meant to them? They were all very nice, and happy to tell their story about why the team was put together. No, not all of the riders have type 1 diabetes. Actually, only one rider present, Fabio Calabria has the disease. So I spoke with Fabio briefly about how he watches his insulin while racing. “I’ve got an insulin pump. Basically it’s like having an artificial pancreas that I control so it’s not too bad. We’ve got the technology now and the medical information to keep it under control.” Wow. I have a hard enough time learning how to maintain my glycogen levels during rides, let alone having to worry about diabetes on top of this. Definitely inspiring and goes to show you that somehow there is always a way.
Heading back to the race I ran into Ben Jaques-Maynes. Watching the women’s pro race, he signs my Santa Cruz paper from February. “Wow, cool where did you get this? So you were there on Bonny Doon? That day was horrible!” We spoke for a good twenty minutes. Being an avid year-around cyclist myself, at times I caught myself talking to these guys as riding buddies rather than a formal interview. “We must have had a head wind from every direction the other day! It was unreal.” Believe me, I understand! “What’s your name again? Okay, US Cycling Report? Yea I’ve heard of it, I’ll look out for it thanks! Take care!” I think perhaps I may be getting the hang of this! So much better from the day before when I could barely get two words out, I had actually managed to get some good material.
As is the case with these events, you find these guys scattered in among the crowds. As my friends holler at me from across the street, I run over to join them. Without even noticing who was standing next to them, “Rebecca, this is Johan.” I look up and Johan Bruyneel kindly shakes my hand as he excuses himself. He has the team radio in his ear as he tells the boys quickly who is in front. Behind him stands Richie, the team’s sougnier and Chris aka “Pink Pants” the team mechanic. The three of them go back and forth speaking Flemish, something I find amusing until I remember reading in Johan’s book that he speaks that with his team whenever he doesn’t want others to understand. Hmmm okay I can take a hint. Actually, they were a lot of fun to speak with and very kind. “Have you announced the team for the Giro yet?” I ask. “Well big guy, have we announced the Giro team?” Chris relays to Johan as he just looks at him with a big grin…”Well we can tell you that there will be three Americans on the team!” Nice, thanks guys! Oh well, so much for the inside scoop!
The crit ends with no major crashes. I later find out that Nydam had crashed but besides some minor road rash he was okay to race the following day. Phinney and Levi had also crashed but finished fine and would be ready to go for Stage 5. Just before heading back I caught up with Bjorn Selander of the Trek/Livestrong team at the finish, “How was it today?” “It was good, we [Trek/Livestrong team] were very active today. The winds weren’t too bad.” What type of speeds did you guys reach? “You know I don’t know. I usually have a power tap on but I forgot it at the house this morning.” Wow, okay? Ever raced the Gila before? “I’m usually racing in Europe right now so this is the first time I’m racing the Gila.” What’s next after this? “Heading home, then back to Belgium. I’ll be racing the under 23 Paris-Roubaix.” Wow! The under 23 course is very similar they too ride through the Trench of Arenberg forest. What’s that like? “It’s a lot tougher than it looks.” It looks pretty tough so I could not imagine. “The amount of energy you’re using. When you’re going on the cobbles, and then you try to do the same, go just as hard on the flats it feels so much harder, it’s weird. Your body goes numb when you’re riding.” Still living in Wisconsin? “Yea but I’ve been living with Taylor [Phinney] in Colorado lately so haven’t been home in a while.” Well good luck tomorrow. “Thanks!”
Having secured a press pass, I was told I would have a spot in one of the support cars in the race caravan the following morning. I could not believe it, it would be the opportunity of a life time! Not only that, but I was told there were not many cycling media in attendance so they were happy to accommodate me however they could since I understood how the race worked, the rules of the peloton, etc. I could not believe how lucky I was. Just one year ago I was learning what a peloton was; now I would be directly in front of it watching easily the biggest star in the pack racing for a win!
Waking up once again bright and early although following four hours of sleep this time, I quickly got ready and head out the door. I was told to arrive by 7 a.m. to get a spot in one of the SRAM cars. I had spoken with Ben from SRAM earlier the day before. “You know, you’re probably better in the media car. It’s a convertible so you’ll be able to get photos and videos much easier. In the support car you only have one view.” Hmm, okay sounds good. I hope I wouldn’t regret my decision. True, I’d have a 360 degree view in the media car but we would be in front of the race rather than driving in and around it. Either way I was glad for the opportunity. Ricardo and the gang had arrived just in time to bring me extra video and audio tapes, thanks guys! Once I had my spot I took off to look for Nydam once again. It seemed like I ran into everyone but Nydam, was I ever going to meet him? This was getting very frustrating. I wandered around aimlessly, running into the Trek/Livestrong squad again, “Hi Bjorn! Good luck today!” “Good morning, and thank you!” Then Team Type 1, riding past me to the starting line. I had parked directly in front of the OUCH team car so I decided to go check them out before heading back to BMC for Nydam. Luckily I had caught them right in the middle of their team meeting. “Okay we’re adding the climb right here. You climb over it, drop down turn around and come back up. The hardest part of the climb is actually the bottom, it’s the steepest part. There are couple times that you’ll have a few false flats so keep that in mind. As far as GC goes today, we’re all hands on deck. Focus on more than one guy in the group today, getting in that breakaway. Bringing it back, if we don’t then we don’t. The last 200 meters are still hard, so keep that in mind. Everyone got that? All hands on deck, look for that move, again more than one guy.”
Looking at the clock, it was 5 minutes until start time. I ran back to the car and made it just in time. Once again, I had missed Scott Nydam. I scanned the crowd quickly before we took off but could not see him. Hopefully I would have a chance at the finish line. Here we go! I had secured a seat in the back of the car so I would be able to face the race, sitting on my knees the majority of the time. Other reporters present - one camera man from Channel 7 ABC affiliate in Albuquerque, “I just need to get the finish, whatever else doesn’t matter.” Great. In the front seat we had the New York Times, “I wish I knew if Armstrong was in that pile. It would be a lot easier for us if he wasn’t” Of course, only worried about Lance. I remained quiet, not saying much at all. The race radio comes in, “114 and 58 have now joined the lead group, now 11 riders, 11 riders in the lead.” Nydam (114) had caught the breakaway! “Lead group is approaching the turn…3..2..1..mark. Copy onto 152.” Now let me just say how insanely difficult it is to shoot video while halfway hanging out the back of a convertible going at speeds of 30 to 40 mph on farm roads. It’s not easy! Just when the car would slow down enough so that the picture wouldn’t shake, the radio would yell “MEDIA! MOVE! They’re right on us!” Nice. Needless to say, it was definitely a learning experience.
“I’ve got rider 122 looking for service. ‘Medics here, coming around.’ Copy that.” 122? Taylor Phinney! He had been caught up in a crash shortly after the start, hope he was ok.
Our car was just two cars back from the lead car, while we had one other car and two motorcycles weaving between us and the breakaway. Best seat in the house until we reached the windy roads where you couldn’t see anything or the descents when we had to fly down the road so not to interfere with the riders coming up behind us, reaching speeds of up to 50 mph or more at some points. Just then, race radio, “114, 114 - copy that 114 what’s the status? – Medics come forward – copy that, coming forward.” Wait, 114? That was Nydam, as I strained to listen in. “Comm 3 to Comm 1, we were doing approximately 50 mph when he went down.” All at once, we looked at each other, did he say 50?!? “Comm 2 to Comm 1, not sure if you heard that or not, rider was going 50 mph when he went down.” My heart sank to my stomach, was he moving? Was he conscious? Nothing but silence and static, “Turning onto San Lorenzo…3..2..1..mark.”
Shortly after the first feeding zone there was another crash, 1/3 of the peloton had gone down with nine riders abandoning. No one was badly injured this time around, thank goodness, still no word on Nydam. “Okay folks I’m going to stop at the next feed zone. The riders will be going down into the valley, turning around and climbing back up. We’ll hang out here and wait for them.” We were sitting at the top of the descent down to the Gila’s visitor’s center where the riders would turn around and climb back up. I had just gotten out of the car and situated myself on the ground with my video camera when I heard the train coming. I looked up and Lance, Horner, and Levi were steering the train down the descent, each rider sitting just inches from the wheel in front of them. I was lying on the ground at this point, trying to get a good shot while praying no one crashed into me. Literally in the blink of an eye they were gone, having flown down the mountain side. I don’t think it was until that moment that I truly appreciated the kind of speeds they reach and the level of bike handling skills they maintain. Simply amazing!
As I walked from car to car I noticed Phinney. He got out of his team car and was getting bandaged up. Derek Loudermilk from Team Horizon Organic came up to the Trek team, “do you have any extra bandages? I went down in the first crash as well.” What happened? “Two guys were handing bottles to each other. I think they clipped handle bars, the wheels turned and I was right behind them.” Any news on Nydam? “I passed him, he was still laying on the ground.” Phinney tells me. A war zone? Perhaps while one surveys the scene, one by one riders are coming up with bloody fingers, road rash on their backs, thighs, knees, arms, trainers are picking gravel and rocks out from flesh. Who says cycling isn’t a tough sport? I ask around but there is still no news on Nydam.
I find one of Ben Jaques-Maynes team mates, Jeremy Vennell, relaxing in their team van. “Were you involved in any of the crashes today?” “Nearly, I was pretty lucky though. I think everyone is just tired today. There were a couple crashes on the descents; there was one shortly after the feeding zone. I was the last rider to make it through that one so pretty lucky. You have a bad day like today, its going to be a long day, and I don’t like the attitude at all. I’m just tired today, our next race is on Thursday so...” I hope Ben wins today, I’ll be cheering for him. “Yea, thanks! I hope so too, nice meeting you.”
On the way back I run into Lucas Haedo, winner of the second stage. Unfortunately he didn’t speak any English so it was time to test my skills. Luckily we managed to understand each other okay. “No, I dropped out today because I’m tired. We have our next race at Joe Martin in Arkansas so I’m resting up for then. Today was very hard, a lot of crashes too. I saw Nydam, he looked very bad. So I’ll rest up.” Onward, back to Phinney as I ask how long he’ll take off before riding again. “I didn’t break anything so I’ll probably ride tomorrow. If I’m really sore I won’t ride but the main thing is it will be sore sleeping tonight. I go to Europe on the 16th, back with the Trek guys, racing with the Development team later on.” Hopefully the week faired better for him. It was time to jump back in the car before the guys caught up with us. Race radio, “The leaders are now in the feed zone. 5 leaders, rider 85 [Ben King] has now joined the lead group.” Whew, made it just in time!
Twenty miles now from the finish, Team Mellow Johnny was now in the breakaway with Horner and Lance taking turns pulling Levi. I turned to catch a glimpse of the riders before turning yet another corner when I saw the black jerseys of Team Mellow Johnnys. Lance & Horner are in the front! The other journalists in the car immediately grab their equipment and jump around. “Which one is Horner?” Lord, here we go. The one with the yellow shoes, then next to him is Lance, behind him in the leaders jersey is Levi. As I’m fixated on getting a good shot of the boys flying up the mountain we pass Ricardo and the gang cheering them on. “Here they come! Here they come guys! GO LANCE!!!” Race radio – “coming up to mile 93, no feeding past mile marker 93.” What? Wait, no, we can’t be nearly finished; it has only been three hours! For comparison, my buddies and I usually do a century in just under six hours. Three hours is insanely fast, I couldn’t believe we were nearing the end. The last 10k went by in a breeze. Even though Levi would later tell me the group had decided to “take it easy because of accidents that happened last year” they were still flying by my book. Philip Zajicek from Fly V Australia took the stage win, with Lance next and Levi third, winning the overall general classification. Catching his breath, Philip managed to answer a few questions. “I just sat on Levi’s wheel, my team did an incredible job, took care of me all day. My parents and wife are here watching me, incredible beating Lance and Levi. Lance put in a good attack on the downhill, Levi too went so fast. I just knew I had to follow, last 500 meters I just gave everything I had.” Turning around I run into Chad Beyer of BMC who had finished 4th in the stage. “Levi and Lance were setting tempo, pretty fast. A couple technical spots but not too bad, the climbs were hard. I hung in there with the top guys so I think I did okay.” Finally an update on Scott Nydam from one of the sport directors of BMC, “On a helicopter right now on his way to El Paso, he was fine initially and conscious when I first walked up to him. The team doctors are with him and have talked to him. He just is in that rutt that all pro guys go through at some point.” At least he was going to be okay. I also managed to speak with Peter Stetina, an amazing young up and coming talent, had been in the top 5 but due to stomach issues had dropped to 10th overall. Ben Jaques-Maynes had finished strong as well, even though after leading the break away for nearly half of the stage, had dropped back. Happy with his finish, Bissell had won first place in the team competition.
Overall an amazing race, I had missed Nydam but there would be other times I’m sure. At least we knew he was going to be okay. Coming in on that last stage, the pros had caught the men category 4 racers as they were finishing the last climb. Legs struggling with every pedal stroke until they heard the motos, turned around and saw Lance, Levi, and Chris Horner leading the break away, after which smiles beamed on their faces, “HI MOM!” as they waved to my video camera with a burst of energy. What it must have felt like finishing a race with these world class cyclists that we would be watching in just a few days time, climbing the legendary mountains in Italy against the best in the world. Yet today these cyclists got to experience something they would never forget, surely stories to keep for a lifetime. Shortly after the podium ceremony Lance took a minute to speak with reporters. “I felt good but didn’t realize that the finish was such an uphill climb. I tried for the win but then told Levi, ‘you better go for it’ instead. Thanks guys, on to Italy now!”
As quickly as they had arrived, they were gone. Heading back to Silver City for a quick bite to eat, it had suddenly looked like a ghost town. So soon, the crowds were gone; teams were already on their way home. None of the restaurants were open because it was Sunday afternoon, my friends and I left as well. A magical weekend none of us will forget anytime soon. A few of the group had raced, and were still trying to process what had happened. “When is the next race, Rebecca? We’re hooked, this was amazing!” Not sure but soon, very soon. For now, back to the real world once again.