Okay, I got a phone call from Lance Armstrong yesterday. It was sort of out of the blue. By that I mean I wasn’t really expecting Lance to be calling me. I guess I should start from the beginning.

Around Thanksgiving, I got a short email from someone who said he was Lance. It was short. It said something like that he occasionally reads my blog and found it interesting. He thought that we should “chat” to go over some things that would be informative.

I get a lot of strange emails and calls, so sort of blew it off. I blew it off by sending him a back an email that was flippant, saying something like I would be down in Austin pretty soon, which was true, and wondering if he knew a good urologist, which was something I was wondering. He answered back something like saying it was a loaded email, and yes on the urologist. I just let it go.

Flash forward to December and I get a one liner asking me when I would be in Austin. I didn’t reply.

So then a couple of days ago after the post I did about George and Frankie, I get an email saying we “needed” to talk. That my post was “ill-informed”, which I don’t think is true, and sad. Then another email saying he was going to call. It was like 7am, but I was awake. I didn’t have my phone in my pocket, but got another email saying that he just tried to call. I looked at my phone and there was a missed call from the 512 area code, which is Austin.

I thought that this was getting a little weird. Who would be trying to impersonate Lance and go and get a 512 area code just to call me? I blew it off again.

Then yesterday afternoon, my phone rang and it was the same number, so I answered. I was under the impression, nearly positive, that it was going to be some weird dude wanting something/ whatever. I say hello and he said, Hey, this is Lance.

It took maybe 20 seconds before I really considered it was Lance. I was so set in my mind that it wasn’t.

Maybe I should back up a little. I’ve “known” Lance for a long, long time. Not in the sense that we’re great friends or anything. This was the first time, that I can remember, that he has ever called me, so it isn’t a common thing. Back in the early 90’s to mid 90’s, when we raced together a lot, I talked to him pretty often. He made a brief foray into MTB racing around 2000, so I rode with him a few times back then. But, I’m pretty sure I haven’t said a word to him since he dabbled in cross and came to Cross Vegas, 5 or 6 years ago.

I was a little rattled, which isn’t normal for me. It took a good 10 minutes before I felt comfortable.

Anyway, we ended up talking for nearly an hour. I’m still thinking about the reason he called. I’m going to give it a couple days to sink in, then am going to post something on it. The subjects bounced around quite a bit. It was mainly about doping and the current situation. What is just and equitable considering the prevalence of doping in the sport. And how to move forward.

I have to admit, the guy sounds genuine. He always has. I told him, during the call, that was part of his current problem. He sounded so genuine, authentic before, during his whole career, with the denials. He obviously speaks very well. So, now when he sounds genuine, it is hard to know whether it is just the same old, or it is whether it is truly sincere. He sounded sincere to me, but what do I know.

Anyway, I’m gonna let this thing mull around in my brain for a couple days and then try to do it justice.

Lance in Mount Snow. He had a hard time that day.

And at Cross Vegas.

Yesterday I rode pretty much all day. I got up early to meet the Swami’s ride, but somehow got my wires crossed and missed it by 5 minutes. I called Thurlow and he said they were a couple miles ahead of me, but 70 of them, going pretty fast. I knew that I wasn’t catching them. So I pulled a Forest Gump and just rode, for no particular reason, for the next 7 hours.

I didn’t feel that great most of the ride. My left leg, where I had shingles, hasn’t really been working perfectly yet. It sort of feels like it is real tight and pseudo cramping, even though it hasn’t. I was way up by Vista and did my turn around riding up Couser Canyon. Strava link.

It is funny, but the time flew. And I never really got any worse than when I started. I actually got better between 90 and 115 miles. I had hoped to ride a long ride, something over 100, but most of the time in a group. Instead I was in the wind all day by myself. It wasn’t really windy until I got back to the coast in Encinitas. And most of that was tailwind down the coast, which was a pleasant surprise.

This was my longest ride since I started saving rides to Strava. The previous one was 116. I don’t really ride long miles all that much, but this year I’m going to be doing more. I ride better when I’m doing some long rides, I’ve just been lazy recently. It’s not like I don’t truly enjoy riding my bike and it is a toll or anything. But, 126 miles was about 1/4 of all the miles I had for the year, so it wasn’t an insignificant amount.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I doubt I’m going to get to ride. I’m flying back into a foot of snow back home in Topeka, early tomorrow morning. So when I was riding yesterday, I thought maybe I’d make up some formula, like riding twice my age. (And no, I’m not turning 66.) I usually try to just ride my age on my birthday, but when you have the ability, like warm weather and great scenery, there is no reason to pass that up.

It is amazing how many cyclists there are riding around North County on a Saturday morning. I saw at least 10 groups of more than 30 guys. And lots more, dozens, or 5-10 riders. I was riding out a bike path by Highway 78, heading east, and it seemed like a full on race came towards me from the west. The guys were hauling ass. I nearly turned around and rode with them, but by then, already had a mission plan in my head.

I thought I’d be more wasted this morning. I don’t really feel any different than riding 50 miles. Kind of weird. I only ate one Cliffbar and stopped at 90 miles and had a double espresso. I am a little porky and did that on purpose, hoping to loose some weight, which I’m sure I did.

It has been cool, compared to the rest of the “winter” here. Lower 60’s instead of upper 70’s or more. The lower’s 60’s is plenty for me. I think that the temperature allowed me to be relatively unscathed today. At least it helped. I didn’t over heat and riding back south along the coast later in the afternoon, it was in the 50’s, which felt great.

Okay, I’ve spent enough time on the computer when there is real life to get to. Hope everyone has an enjoyable Sunday.

I ran into Sue and Don’s friends, Corky and Lucas out on Lilac, by Vista. They were on a good ride too, but already heading back.

I rode back through the Eflin Forest and did a little dirt action up Questhaven.

My normal photo of the beach ride at the base of Torrey Pines.

Many of the coast towns in North County are becoming real bike friendly and allowing bicycles full use of the right lane.

The scenery coming back through La Jolla is unparalleled.

I was pretty much starving when I got back. I had two of these-croissants covered with peanut butter and blackberries. They hit the spot.