There Is No Lance

January 19, 2013 1 Comment

Washington ParkI’m no Lance.  You’re no Lance.  There is no Lance.

Since early childhood I have lived by the creed, before you judge someone else, “put yourself in the other person’s shoes.”  I am a cyclist, albeit, a sorry ass one at best.  Sadly I will never be compared to the elite cyclists one speaks of, in the same breath, with Lance Armstrong.

I am and will remain a huge supporter of Livestrong.  The work Livestrong does for cancer victims is excellent and incontrovertible. The organization and the people behind it, sans Armstrong, are absolutely amazing.

Even before Lance’s true confession, I have tried to put myself in Lance’s shoes.  First and foremost, it becomes extremely difficult, unless you have been diagnosed, been treated and lived with a life threatening cancer.

There are many of Lance’s detractors who have never had cancer, let alone been on a bike seat, or experienced the extreme sport of competitive cycling or can even begin to appreciate his inimitable brilliance and determination.

Still there will be many of Lance’s detractors who have been diagnosed with cancer, so thank God, I’m at a distinct disadvantage here.  I can fall back on the fact I have one sister who is a breast cancer survivor, another sister who is battling breast cancer as I write this.

I am here to say, I have a serious problem with many of Lance’s detractors who have never experienced his amazing journey from serious life threatening testicular and brain cancer to recovery.  Back to trying to put myself in Lance’s shoes, as a cancer survivor, in his case, it was nothing short of being raised from the dead.

The problem is he had already doped.  He already knew how to dope.  He knew the culture of doping in pro cycling.  He knew other elite athletes in his profession were doping.  So he doped.  Somehow he won.  It was off to the races.

His genius and competitive furor brings to mind Steve Jobs and his achievements in cycling why competing with co-conspirators were immeasurable.  If you have read the book or studied the life and work of Steve Jobs, the comparison to Steve Jobs, is to say Armstrong is also a complete asshole.  It begs the question, is ruthless determination, the price one must pay to celebrate incomparable success?

The saddest of all, for me in this and for other cycling enthusiasts is the effigy of a championship cyclist.  We may never know.  How tragic.  Lance will never know.  We will never know if he was truly a great champion.  If in fact, if there was someone who rode clean, who could remotely challenge Lance, will we ever know who the greatest cyclist(s) in the history of the sport is, truly?

I will say this, if they were complicit in any way, they aren’t going to receive a pass.  If they were innocent and Lance rolled over them, he needs to make it right.  I would hope he would.  If not, he’s still the biggest loser, because this is one of his only means of redemption.  The other, is to protect and nurture his love for his family, especially his children.

I can’t remotely place myself in Lance’s shoes when it comes to his admonitions, accusations and confessions.  Lance was larger than life.  For a time, Lance’s achievements were larger than his lies.  No more.armstrong confession

In the end, none of his perceived success either on the pro circuit or in his work for charity can be applauded.  Neither can it be easily and lightly be disparaged and denigrated.  Why?  Simply, no one can ever possibly imagine, or conceive to “put yourself in Lance Armstrong’s shoes.”  Lance Armstrong is an enigma.

I’m no Lance.  You’re no Lance.  There is no Lance.

What I know for certain is we can Livestrong!

Filed under bike tour, bikeMS, Celebrities, Cycling, cyclists, export, leadership, Liberal Media, mainstream media, Musings, Rants Tagged with , , , ,

Livestrong Anyway!

October 9, 2010 1 Comment

Make no mistake about it, Lance Armstrong is no Mother Teresa!   If Lance is guilty of doping, what should we do?  Take away his bike? 

My message is less about Lance, the man and more about Lance, the messenger.

I am sure you have heard the expression, “Don’t shoot the messenger!”  Regardless of how you feel or think about the man, the message is clear, “Livestrong Anyway”.

Recently my sister Kay was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Thank God, she will survive, albeit after suffering surgery, chemo and radiation therapy.  For Kay, amongst  many untold stories, there is a long hard road ahead.  Our family, myself included, has always been an advocate for the fight to cure cancer.  We have friends and family members fighting Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer and MS.  We are no strangers to the challenges life imposes upon all of us.

I maintain a good fiction writer could tell a story as good as the story Landis has told about allegations Armstrong was doping (In 2006 Floyd Landis was stripped of his title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone).  Landis knew all the ins and outs of doping and he wasn’t the only malcontent that had hung out with Armstrong, so the courts will need plenty of corroboration from cyclists who either were complicit or witnessed the doping.  As soon as Landis came out with his story Armstrong should have sued him instead of dismissing him as a loser.  There’s too much at stake.

For my part, there are lots of questions.  How many of us could have endured Armstrong’s road to a cure from a tumor that had metastasized to his brain and lungs?  How many of us could have endured the challenges of winning seven 7 consecutive Tour de France races, typically 21 days of racing and covers 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) championships?  Is he less of a champ if he was cheating or only if he is caught?  Could it be said he won fair and square since most likely everyone was cheating?

In 1998 the race stopped in protest at what the riders saw as heavy-handed investigation of drug-taking allegations.

In 1998 the Festina team was disqualified after revelations of organized doping within the team.

In 2006 Floyd Landis was stripped of his title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone.

In 2007 team Astana abandoned after Alexander Vinokourov was caught doping

In 2007 Michael Rasmussen was removed by his team while wearing the yellow jersey for lying about his whereabouts during a team training session in Mexico.

In 2008 Riccardo Ricco was kicked out of the race after testing positive for CERA

In 2008 Moises Duenas Nevado was kicked out of the race after testing positive for Erythropoietin

In 2008 Manuel Beltrán was kicked out of the race after testing positive for EPO

In 2010, Alberto Contador,  the three-time Tour de France champion was provisionally suspended by the international cycling federation after a small amount of the banned drug clenbuterol was discovered in one of his samples by a laboratory in Cologne, Germany.

My message is Livestrong Anyway!  LIVESTRONG  http://www.livestrong.org/ has a life of its own.

Many good-hearted folks worry about the consequences of the weighty accusations and bad press about Armstrong which Livestrong and Armstrong must endure.  A friend of mine, pictured here below has raised thousands of dollars for Livestrong and for a cure.  She recently wrote, “It makes me nervous for Livestrong and the 28 million people living with cancer.”  So what happens to an organization built on the courage and determination of one man?  The organization is built upon people who are dedicated to the fight against cancer; who have family members with cancer or who are cancer survivors themselves, such as Doug Ulman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Livestrong.  Whatever the outcome, what the many volunteers and the organization Livestrong has done for cancer victims cannot be undone, which has  all been great.  Excellence survives!

In any case, I’m a much bigger fan of Mother Teresa.

Anyway

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway!
If you do good, people will accuse you
of selfish, ulterior motives.
Do good anyway!
If you are successful, you will win
false friends and enemies.
Succeed anyway!
The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway!
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway!
What you spend years building may be
destroyed overnight.
Build anyway!
People really need help
but may attack you if you help them.
Help them anyway!
Give the world the best you have
and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway!

Written by: Mother Teresa

Whatever the outcome, whatever Armstrong  has done, what Livestrong has done for cancer victims cannot be undone, which has been all great.  Even Mother Teresa had her doubts about her God, so why should we doubt Lance, the supreme being of cycling?

Filed under Celebrities, Event, leadership, Musings, Rants, Talent Tagged with , , , , , ,

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