I never get the question anymore. You know, "why do you wear the yellow band?" Two years ago, prior to heartbreaking doping scandals, prior to USPS becoming Discovery, prior to Lance's retirement and the breakup of him and Sheryl, cycling was in the midst of something fantastic and cutting edge.
To the heady summer of 2004: For one dollar, get a yellow band. The dollar supports cancer patients. All monies go to the cancer project, Nike is producing them at no cost. The Tour de France was so dramatic in 2004, the grueling Plateau de Beille mountaintop finish (only 6 climbs on that stage), the time trial up Alpe d'Huez, the glory of it was unbelievable, Lance won again, his sixth time, no one had ever done that, & um...he kicked ass! The yellow bands were ubiquitious, representing health and overcoming and some good ol' American pride.
Andrew was born on the first day of the Tour in 2004, so I was able to be home & watch the Tour twice a day, once in the AM live and again in the evening with Chris. My mom patiently helped with the details of having a newborn & a 13 month old, while we obsessed, I am sure it wasnt that pleasant for her to watch so much cycling, no matter how entertaining Paul, Phil & Bob are, Al just wasnt funny that year.
We were unable to watch the final stages of the Tour because of the tragic death of my father-in-law. He loved riding, he once owned a bike shop named after his youngest daughter, he died on his bike.
So today on what would have been his 53rd birthday, I honor him by continuing to wear the yellow band & of course occasionally riding, supporting Chris in his riding, telling my growing babies about granddaddy & watching the Tour obsessively every summer.
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