May 07 2008
“Cycling is King at Lees-McRae”… Where’s that you say?
I wrote about my climbing in the Appalachian Mountains and The Blue Ridge Parkway a couple of posts back. It’s the same area around Banner Elk, NC where Lance Armstrong made his comeback from cancer ten years ago. He trained there rebuilding his body for the Tour de France. Good news is, I’m headed back to the area for some more climbing this weekend. I, of course, am in no way comparing my ability to that of Lance… AND… I hope I don’t run into any of the 
cyclists from Lees-McRae. Oh wait… there’s that name again I mentioned in the title of this post.
Lees-McRae is a small private school with a really GOOD cycling team. The good news is I won’t run into any of their cyclists this weekend because they will all be out of town at a big race. The Lees-McRae Bobcats are a Divsion 1 favorite going into this weekend’s Road Cycling National Championships in Fort Collins, Colorado. How much of a favorite? Judging by the large article about the team in USA TODAY… they should do pretty well. Allez Bobcats… Allez!
That’s cool. Good luck to them!! Have fun pretending to be Lance.
Jeff– Thanks! It is kind of inspriing riding up the same road knowing that’s where Lance was pedaling when he deciding to go back to cycling after cancer. Saw him on TV today as he testified on Capitol Hill… fighting to get more money to fight the “war against cancer.”
A school cycling team? Very cool.
Although when I was younger I was too stupid to understand the joys of cycling.
Will you be wearing a US postal jersey this weekend?
Will– That’s a good question. I actually own both… US Postal & Discovery. Right now… I have my Lance 10//2 jersey packed. Maybe that’s appropriate too. Have a great weekend!
Enjoy the mountains! Wish I could be there, and I would even contribute beer. I will be riding the hills of Quebec this weekend, far from really excellent collegiate cyclists who would humiliate me even more than usual on the road.
It’s very inspiring to ride roads much more accomplished riders rode before. I felt that way when I rode the 2000 Olympics circuit in Sydney a few years ago. We’re planning to take our bikes to Europe and ride the French Alps and in Italy. I am reading “The death of Marco Pantani” at the moment and was thinking of the way his climbing style was described in the book while riding our local Mt Nebo this morning. I posted a new PB.
A little inspiration goes a long way sometimes.
Donald, You forgot about my boys at NC STATE. Our 5 man A squad is out there as well. Go Wolfpack!
All you have to do is look like Lance and sit beside the road. If you ride, they will surely figure you out
Sprocketboy– Thanks… I’m about to post on my mountains ride. I’ll keep a rain check on that beer. qeubec sounds pretty sweet. The collegiate cyclists may be hard for us to follow but the chase will make us stronger.
Groover– An Olympic course sounds pretty impressive. I bet you felt strong on Mt. Nebo after reading about Pantani’s climbing style. I’m off to read your inspirational post.
Brian– So sorry SOPRO … I certianly didn’t mean to leave my buddy’s team out. I hope they do well also. But they forgot how strong you are on the hills. Make sure they know about your Cycle to Serve finish.
Chris– Look the part… be the part… Don’t let them see you sweat.