Friday evening in Sturbridge, MA started out with our traditional dinner by Rovezzi’s Restaurante before the official Pan Mass Challenge ceremonies would kick off.  Attending were Senator John Kerry, his brother Cam, PMC founder Billy Star, Senator Kerry’s Aide Jason Meininger, my wife Liz and Lance Armstrong. The conversation was eclectic and light, as you would expect from such a diverse group. We bantered from this year’s Tour, to recent politics, to the amazing growth of the PMC, raising nearly $35 million this year to fight cancer.

It was all typical dinner conversation like it was any other Friday night out with friends. Liz and I enjoyed sharing stories of our business and family as we learned we had more in common with everyone at the table than our various backgrounds would initially suggest. People are people. Lance was just another person. But how would he be out on the bike?

Official start time was at 5:30am so we were up very early for breakfast before getting to the starting line.  The one thing that never changes with the PMC is an indescribable feeling when you see 3,000+ riders lined up, all driven there for a cause, not to beat each other, but to ride together to beat a disease.  As we approached the line, the flashes and microphones were rushed at our small group like metal filings to a magnet. Our national anthem echoed across the “touched” crowd and then we were sent off amongst screams for Lance and “thank you’s” from the crowd lining the starting line. Imagine all those riders going immediately anaerobic to get a chance to ride next to Lance and have a lifetime memory.  Being included as part of the team, I knew going in, this day was going to be a moment in my life I would never forget.

Lance, Senator Kerry, Cam, Jason and I quickly made our way to the front of the field and set a strong tempo. A pace I knew we wouldn’t be able to maintain for the full 111 miles. It wasn’t more than ten minutes into the ride before our first possible near miss had occurred. A “Robert” on a Trek got in front of Lance from his right side and started to swerve and fade going up a short climb. Robert nearly took down the most famous cyclist in the world without even knowing what he just did. Lance immediately swerved to his left and bumped shoulders with me to avoid a very bad start to a long day. It was his reaction and response that impressed me most. He looked at me and we both laughed.  Lance didn’t say anything negative to Robert, he never yelled, insulted him, made him feel like an ass, as would be so common on any Saturday morning group ride. I took my cue from him and put my hand on Robert’s left hip and slowly moved him to the right side of the line. First disaster avoided.

We settled in over the first twenty miles and finished them in less than an hour. Lance, the Kerry’s, Jason and I stayed together although our group changed dynamics between fifteen to fifty cyclists at any time. The pace became too anaerobic for many and the stronger riders fell in line with the unspoken rule of don’t be the one to challenge Lance and “be that guy.”

Along the way cyclists would ride to the front and chat up Lance and the Senator for a moment of banter and then peel off. Both Lance and the Senator were very gracious and open to rolling conversations. Cyclists were riding with their phones and cameras trying to get close ups. This only scared me more as most people on bikes can’t keep a straight line with both hands on the bars nonetheless aiming a camera. This proved to become entertainment for us as cyclists would be swerving around us like bees, but almost going off the road possibly taking the greatest first person photo of their own crash.

There was one section of road, approximately forty miles into the ride, where a group of three riders caught in their own moment passed us and didn’t realize that Lance was pulling our line. The last guy of the three looked back and noticed Lance. He snapped his head around focused on Lance as they rolled by. “Did that guy just give you the look back?  Isn’t that your move?” I ribbed Lance. Lance looked at me and said “you want to get them?” “Nah” I responded “they’re going to fade on the hill coming up”. As predicted, the three of them rolled backwards through our field like watermelon seeds being shot out the back. Lance looked over to me and smirked. I responded with the head nod.

Our group stayed together as we joined and rejoined different rolling packs. We would wind through the beautiful countryside and small towns of Massachusetts like any other Saturday ride where a group of cyclists would be enjoying a long day out on their bikes. Every cyclist we ran into shared the same joy and fun that Lance was feeling that day. There was no yellow jersey to be won on the bike; the victory in mind was beating cancer.

At around the fifty mile mark the Senator and I started sliding to the back of the field of approximately forty riders.  Senator Kerry is a guy who wakes up for training rides at 4:30am to be on time for an additional 14 hour work day in the Senate, every day, and works through weekends, and he’s 67.  Jason, the aide he trains with is 29 and is in incredible shape… Kerry trains with a 29 year old, need I say more?  You can’t fake fitness.

Someone was pulling the peloton up a low grade hill and the group strung out into a single file. This is never a good sign for the caboose in the train, which is where I found myself sitting in the line. I decided to try to work my way up to the front of the group by sprinting past the left side of the line.  A glance at my SRM power meter told me that I was putting out 975 watts and the front of the line wasn’t in site. It became instantly clear to me who must be pulling the line. I worked my way up to Lance, grabbed his jersey pocket and informed him that he was ripping the legs off everyone.  As we passed by groups of people on the side of the road who were holding signs in support of the PMC riders, Lance looked over and smirked, “Sorry, I got caught up in the moment.” No matter how fast we rode or how many riders were in our group, it was clear that what Lance meant as “the Moment” was the people we were riding for, those who endured a completely different kind of pain in their fight against cancer.

Even though the day had a cloud cover and we started at 5:30, the heat was definitely taking its toll on our hydration. At the time, the four of us were separated from all others. Jason and the Senator slid off the back since their legs were beginning to cramp a bit, so we decided to ride tempo until they rejoined us. It was apparent they weren’t going to bridge our gap since we kept looking back and they weren’t there. I asked Lance if he wanted to play “Drop and Hide”.  “Yeah, drop and hide” I repeated. “You pull off the road and hide down a side street so the group you just dropped rides by you. They will think they are still chasing you while you roll up behind them.” “Cool, let’s do it” He laughed.

We didn’t wait long before Jason and the Senator came flying by. Lance and I shot out of the side road and sprinted toward them. It was neat, sprinting next to Lance like kids chasing down their buddies. We rolled up on the two and got the same puzzled look the game always gets.  Riding bikes will always make you feel like a kid.  Lance is just a really fast kid.

We stopped at the 60 mile water stop to refuel, shake hands, thank volunteers, take pictures… everything you’d expect out of riding with A-list celebrities.  The two were like magnets for people and I wondered if we’d ever be able to get back on our bikes.  We slowed through the other stops to wave and thank people.  At the mile 82 water stop in Lakeville, we stopped to meet and take pictures with the Pan Mass Challenge Pedal Partners – a group of children who made the long trek down from the Dana Farber clinic in Boston.  Could there be a better distraction from cancer treatment?  Meeting Lance Armstrong and John Kerry, two cancer survivors, one who beat cancer and reached the pinnacle of his sport and the other who beat cancer and then went on to run for President of the United States in just the following year?  And then for these kids to see the other 5,298 cyclists ride the PMC for them.  I can only imagine how inspiring that would be.  Now I was certainly caught up in the moment.

The day finished with our group coming in at five hours and eleven minutes for the 111 miles.  Had Lance ridden without us, he probably would’ve done it in less than 4 hours; I don’t even think he broke a sweat… But for us, it was a long, hard day on the bike. We stayed intact and I learned many things that day I will keep for a lifetime. The one thing I will share with you is that the next time I get asked “have you ever met Lance?” I will have an answer now. Yes, I met Lance and he is just like you and me, he loves bikes, hates cancer and he made me feel like I was a friend of his. We laughed, avoided crashes, ribbed each other and road like teammates. Just like any other Saturday ride I have been on.

-Paul Levine
Owner, Signature Cycles