Message-ID: <19037948.1075842034724.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 07:59:23 -0700 (PDT) From: john.zufferli@enron.com To: cramer@cadvision.com Subject: FW: Inspiration for Sunday AM Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: Zufferli, John X-To: 'cramer@cadvision.com' X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \ExMerge - Zufferli, John\Sent Items X-Origin: ZUFFERLI-J X-FileName: john zufferli 6-26-02.PST -----Original Message----- From: Croasdale, Duncan Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2001 5:02 PM To: Zufferli, John; Sangwine, Howard Subject: Inspiration for Sunday AM Lance Armstrong > > > > > Throughout the Tour de France, a Colombian rider on the Kelme - Costa > Blanca Team, Santiago Botero,had been keeping a diary for the newspaper. > Each day the newspaper published his diary from the previous day. > Unfortunately, this is the only diary entry I have seen. It is worth the > read. > "There I am all alone with my bike. I know of only two riders ahead of me > as I near the end of the second climb on what most riders consider the > third worst mountain stage in the Tour. I say 'most riders' because I do > not fear mountains. After all, our country is nothing but mountains. I > train year-round in the mountains. I am the national champion from a > country that is nothing but mountains. I trail only my teammate, Fernando > Escartin, and a Swiss rider. Pantani, one of my rival climbers, and the > Gringo Armstrong are in the Peleton about five minutes behind me. I am > climbing on such a such a steep portion of the mountain that if I were to > stop pedaling, I would fall backward. Even for a world class climber, this > is a painful and slow process. I am in my upright position pedaling at a > steady pace willing myself to finish this climb so I can conserve my energy > > for the final climb of the day. The Kelme team leader radios to me that the > > Gringo has left the Peleton by himself and that they can no longer see him. > > I recall thinking 'the Gringo cannot catch me by himself'. > A short while later, I hear the gears on another bicycle. Within seconds, > the Gringo is next to me - riding in the seated position, smiling at me. > He was only next to me for a few seconds and he said nothing - he only > smiled and then proceeded up the mountain as if he were pedaling downhill. > For the next several minutes, I could only think of one thing - his smile. > His smile told me everything. I kept thinking that surely he is in as much > agony as me, perhaps he was standing and struggling up the mountain as I > was and he only sat down to pass me and discourage me. He has to be playing > > games with me. Not possible. The truth is that his smile said everything > that his lips did not. His smile said to me, 'I was training while you were > > sleeping, Santiago'. It also said, 'I won this tour four months ago, while > you were deciding what bike frame to use in the Tour. > I > trained harder than you did, Santiago. I don't know if I am better than > you, but I have outworked you and right now, you cannot do anything about > it. Enjoy your ride, Santiago. See you in Paris.' > Obviously, the Gringo did not state any of this. But his smile did dispel a > > bad rumor among the riders on the tour. The rumor that surfaced as we began > > the Prologue several days ago told us that the Gringo had gotten soft. His > wife had given birth to his first child and he had won the most difficult > race in the world - He had no desire to race, to win. I imagine that his > smile turned to laughter once he was far enough not to embarrass me. The > Gringo has class, but he heard the rumors - he probably laughed all the way > > to Paris. He is a great champion and I must train harder. I am not content > to be a great climber, I want to be the best. > I learned much from the Gringo in the mountains. I will never forget the > helpless feeling I had yesterday. If I ever become an international > champion, I will always remember the lesson the Gringo taught me.