This weekend was one of those weekends that you thank your lucky stars that you decided to jump off and make the move! I had the great experience of riding some back country trails with my bestest buddies to try to get a glimpe of Lance Armstrong, Dave Wiens and our local mountain biking experts blazing the trail on Ride 4 Yellow/Ride the Divide. Chugging our not-as-fit bodies on the Divide Trail in effort to get the money shot, our efforts were rewarded. About 2/3 of the way up we heard voices behind us, just in time to pull out the cameras and capture the moment.
It's not every day you get to have Lance Armstrong bid you "good morning" on a backcountry trail. Nor is it every day that you get to see the outpouring of fundraising, emotion and collaboration that many of us witnessed on Sunday.
My friends and I missed the podium speeches with our dear friend Brad Cusenbary getting to introduce Lance because of course we were still making our way up the trail! Brad who has been dealing with a brain tumor knows all too well what the journey can be about and as we heard, there wasn't a dry eye in the house...or on the lawn as it were. Brad for many years was a competitive cyclist and has been instrumental in bringing us the Tour de Steamboat. This is a road ride which has now focused its fundraising on the Sunshine Kids, an organization geared towards showing kids with cancer a good time including ski trips to Steamboat. The common thread is surreal and yet touches all of us in one way or another.
At lunch, we heard from Linda Armstrong, Lance's Mom who delievered a compelling speech of her experience with Lance to a room filled of people that were friends, survivors, patients, volunteers, etc. The energy was incredible in that room.
Events like this are just snapshots of how awesome this community is for many of us. People come together, visitors see it and many of us cherish it because we are so damn lucky to be here.
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