Ride 4 Yellow, Part 2: Sarah's Story

This post is another "very special" edition not written by me, but rather by Sarah:


Josh asked me to be a guest 'blogger' since he and I had very different experiences at the Ride 4 Yellow Event in Steamboat Springs this past Sunday. I have pretty big shoes to fill considering Dave's blog on the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society bike ride that was posted earlier this month! 

I woke up ~ 4:45 a.m. (which is early for a non-morning person, but even earlier when you have attended a 3 hr wine fest the night before). Josh and I were dressed and packed in about an hour. I even had a chance to down a Soy Joy bar and some water (not in the mood for the Red Bull pick-me-up I purchased the night before). 


We arrived at the Meadows parking lot a few minutes later. It was dark and brisk (maybe 50 degrees), but not cold. I think there were 4 buses waiting to take the bikers to the beginning of the ride when we arrived. Around 6:20 Josh hopped on the 3rd bus. Dave Nagel, who organized the event, picked me up ~ 6:30 along with his brother Steve (who drove in from Texas to do the ride). How was I able to ride with the organizer you might ask? I sent him an email a few weeks earlier telling him about Josh and how it would mean a lot to cheer him on at the beginning of the race. Dave replied 1 week later and said he would make special arrangements for this to occur. He also asked me if he could share Josh’s email. So I told Josh what I had done –thankfully he was not upset.  Little did I know this email would be printed on every map/program for the event and distributed to hundreds!!! 

We arrived at the ride’s start ~ 7. It was cloudy, misty and cold! Thank goodness there was coffee and music. While we waited for the ride to begin Dave introduced to me to lots of people. He definitely has connections. In fact, he told me how he and Linda (Armstrong) started planning this event at the end of the Tour de France back in 2009. 

The energy was palpable as riders began to arrive. I saw our friend Scott first. Then, I saw Josh and got very excited. To me this was more than a bike ride. It was about surviving cancer and having my husband/best friend back.

Riders began picking up their bikes and lining up. The ride was to begin ~ 8:15. Before the start of the ride several guest speakers offered words of encouragement, Dave Wiens, Lance Armstrong, and Governor Bill Ritter to name just a few. I had a prime spot to take pictures at the front of the line (much easier to get around w/o a bike). 

Unfortunately, I do not remember much of what was said. I know Governor Ritter was funny and Lance was inspirational. 

I was just so shaky and emotional because of how far Josh and I had gone to arrive at this very moment! As the speakers finished, I ran back to Josh and our friend Scott to take a few more pictures. They were the leaders in the third group which made it easier for me to shoot away! 

After the last wave of riders left I found Dave again (which was easy to do considering how quickly everything cleared out). Dave said he would to take me to the gondolas – this would be our transportation to the top of the mountain/end of the bike ride. However, we needed to make a detour first. 


We met up with Dave’s sister-in-law, Lee (a 5 year cancer survivor – her husband Steve, who I met earlier, was riding in her honor), Lance Armstrong’s mom, Linda, Linda’s husband, Ed Kelly, Lance’s girlfriend, Anna, and their little boy, Max (14 mo old). 

I have to say Max was just adorable in his little Mellow Johnny’s T-shirt - like father, like son! 

After a few more pictures we were off to the gondolas. Even though I’ve lived in CO x 6 years I’ve never been on a gondola. The gondola I rode in fit 6 people so I sat alongside Anna, Max, Linda, Ed and Jim McCreight, one of the event organizers. Majestic views certainly added to the surreal experience. 

As we hopped off the gondola (maybe it was about 10 a.m.) Lance was just finishing the ride (under 2 hr). I took pictures of him riding up the hill before he snuck behind a door. 

I think Lance was gone for maybe 30 minutes? I wasn’t really keeping track of time. I just pulled out his book, 'It’s not about the bike' in the hopes I would get him to sign it. I started reading this book when Josh was first diagnosed with cancer and then finished it the night before his last chemo treatment. I also kept my camera close by in order to get more pictures (Lance and his entourage move very quickly so I needed to be ready which is not easy to do with a hangover, little sleep and an empty stomach)  At last, Lance came out. 

As you might imagine people swarmed him for autographs. I was one of them, I guess. I thanked Lance for signing my book and told him ‘good job.’ He said thank you. Looking back I’m not sure why I said good job, but it was all I could get out. I think I meant for everything: his foundation, serving as a symbol of so much hope and inspiration, etc.

As quickly as Lance signed my book he was back on his bike and making his way to the stage. Dave Wiens spoke first, he was followed by a brain cancer survivor (you’re considered a survivor the day you are diagnosed), and last but not least Lance Armstrong spoke again. 

This time I was able to hear and process more of what Lance said. He spoke about the ‘obligation of the cured’ (which Josh and I totally get now), having the choice to walk out of the hospital and not have anyone know what happened or having the chance to walk out of the hospital and let everyone know what happened. He obviously chose the latter. He was kind of emotional and said he wasn’t sure why. 


He was also pretty funny as he verbally acknowledged every time a rider crossed the finish line. I guess you had to be here for this so I’ll try to explain. Before Lance arrived on stage to address the crowd there was a line of people on either side of the finishing area to clap/cheer for the riders as they finished. However, when Lance started speaking the crowd moved and the riders silently approached the finish line. 


Lance realized this and therefore began acknowledging every rider as they crossed the line  – which took the finishers by surprise.  After a while, Lance was off again so I took a spot by the finish line to wait for Josh and cheer on the riders. Josh and his friend Scott finished ~ 12:45. So it only took them about 4 hours to complete this 26 mile mountain bike ride – not bad at all! After a few pictures we headed up for lunch. 

Lunch was a feast of healthy salads, noodle dishes, wraps, etc. We ate our lunches outside overlooking the beautiful scenery. After lunch we headed back in to hear from the top 10 fundraisers (one of which was there for his non-smoking brother who had recently been diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer). 

After watching the new Livestrong manifesto, Lance’s mom spoke. She talked about Lance’s childhood, how his passion for biking developed, his stage IV cancer diagnosis at age 25, and his fight to get to where he is today. I read about all of this in Lance’s book, ‘It’s not about the bike,’ however, it was different hearing from his mom. Again, a bit emotional for Josh and I. For me it was Lance’s mom, as the caregiver, verbalizing so many of the things I felt/thought about during our recent journey.

The lunch ended with an auction. I told Josh he could bid on something, but he did not. There were lots of great items (a private ride with Dave Wiens, a Radioshack Madone bike built to the winner’s specifications, an autographed Lance Armstrong jersey – he wore this as he crossed the finish at the Tour de France marking his 7th straight victory, and a chance to ride with Lance and others during the Ride for the Roses weekend). 

At the end of the auction I of course had to take a few more pictures – a sign that showed Josh was one of the fundraisers who raised more than $1000 and Josh next to his ‘I am a survivor sign.’ 

We then thanked Dave Nagel for the most incredible day and then we were off. I thought we were all going to take the gondola down, but Scott and Josh wanted to bike down the mountain (guess you can never get in enough biking). 

While waiting at the base of the mountain for Josh, I saw Linda Armstrong, and the Nagels (David, Steve and Lee) one last time. Steve said he would like to get Josh’s email address because he would like to meet Josh at the Hotter than Hell 100 ride in August – which would be very cool because Steve and his wife, Lee, are close to Lance’s mom and do lots of fundraising in Texas. 


Josh and I eventually made our way back to the Meadows Parking lot where the day began 10 hours earlier. What a wonderfully, exciting, awesome surreal day. Definitely a day to remember. And no doubt that it met Josh’s criteria for ONE FUN THING!