Lance Armstrong in real Life

Lance Armstrong. The name alone carries weight.  The guy beats cancer, beats the Tour 7 times,..and he's still goin!  So when I heard he'd be in Aspen last night for a book signing of 'Comeback 2.0' I decided I oughta go check it out.

You know, I've heard a lot of things about Lance in my time. Being a pro athlete (in albeit a lesser sport) you tend to bump into other athletes quite a bit. To cross train for skiing I do a fair bit of mtb and cycling too and often hear things from within that industry.  And whenever the Tour de France or Tour of Cali rolls around, or a new book comes out...people tell u what they think about Lance.  Often you hear  what an inspiration and strength he's been to many...but sometimes what you hear isn't always good.  'How the hell do they know??' I ask myself. They BFF's or something?  As I stated in the Team Mapple post (Team Mapple), people talk...often when they have no idea what they are talking about....myself included.  Read on to see for yourself....

Maybe it adds to the Legend...to have this "love/hate" floating around.  Maybe people are quick to judge the famous, taking "sound bites" or mishaps out of context...almost thriving on that inner human drive to seek out controversy, or create it where there is none.  Or, perhaps, Lance has made mistakes in the past, screwed up, burned bridges....but who hasn't?  Whatever the reason for negativity, I know it only added to my drive to investigate further....

In light of the above, societies love for finding fault, and the misdirected firestorm in the media currently (News is nothing but Tiger cheating on his family, instead of the 3 suicide bombings today in Pakistan, Afghanistan & India) we decided to go check this dude out for ourselves.

So, yesterday Jenny and I drove the hour & 15 to Aspen, to have Mr Livestrong himself sign a book. Ridiculous, I know.

Get there, line is out the door...maybe 20 people. Park, walk up, discover line is out the door, 'round the back & into the alley. Maybe 200+ people!

AND, books are sold out!!  AND, he's only signin the new book!  Damn!  Somehow we bumped into a water ski pal, the famous Laura Patterson....if you've ever been thru Phoenix or Denver airport, you've seen their Bakeries...Paradise Bakery....unreal cookies!  Anyway,....I'm lazy and tired of typing, so I'll let Jenny take it from here - for the rest of the full story click link:  JLaw's Blog

Short version (for the lazy ppl like me):  Laura (paradise bakery lady and great skier friend) let us stand in line and talk. She ends up knowing Dude's (Lance's) caretaker in Aspen, Renee.  Get inside, Renee is there. She ends up
Givin us a book. We did the deal!  Super cool lady.

AND in the end, I don't really know anything more about Lance, the person, than I did before last night. It was a quick book signing, a few words, and that was it.... 

But you know what, I learned something about Lance the Legend just by simply being a part of it and witnessing the kindness that took place:  the Lance Armstrong Foundation, his movement, what it stands for, the environment it creates,  the people it attracts and what it has been able to accomplish are amazing.  Truly. And what Lance does personally, by getting his face out there, making himself known, standing up to World leaders and political barriers,.....it gives the people fighting for their life a voice.  I know just a slice of how hard and draining a road campaign can be for Lance, from my efforts with the Face To Face Tour. He is one of the worlds best athletes, a parent, an ambassador not only to his sport but to a disease that kills millions yearly and most importantly he takes the time to do these stupid little grassroots tricks like group rides, runs and book signings....probably the biggest piece of the puzzle, really. I mean, who has that much time in a day??  Not to compare but check out this equation for you math geeks:

Tiger Woods in person = $3,000,000 (appearance fee)
Lance Armstrong in person = $14 (price of Comeback 2.0)

This guy is a Hero.  He's grassroots. And he survived cancer.  He's Everyman.


For those that wanna speak their mind about Lance, this is America...keep on speaking ur mind. Just make sure you realize the impact he could have on you (or someone you love) now or in the future, before you cut him down for being human.
 




We're all human. We all make mistakes. But few of us are actually Legends.


We need Legends

Random classic excerpt from "DodgeBall":
Lance Armstrong: Hey, aren't you Peter La Fleur?
Peter La Fleur: Lance Armstrong!

Lance Armstrong: Ya, that's me. But I'm a big fan of yours 
Peter La Fleur: Really?

Lance Armstrong: Ya, I've been watching the dodgeball tournament on the ocho. ESPN 8. I just can't get enough of it. Good luck in the tournament. I'm really pulling for you against those jerks from Globo gym. I think you better hurry up or you're gonna be late.
Peter La Fleur: Uh, actually I decided to quit... Lance.

Lance Armstrong: Quit? You know, once I was thinking of quitting when I was diagnosed with brain, lung and testicular cancer all at the same time. But with the love and support of my friends and family, I got back on the bike and won the Tour de France 5 times in a row (or 7). But I'm sure you have a good reason to quit. So what are you dying of that's keeping you from the finals?
Peter La Fleur: Right now it feels a little bit like... shame.

Lance Armstrong: Well, I guess if a person never quit when the going got tough, they wouldn't have anything to regret for the rest of their life. Well good luck to you Peter. I'm sure this decision won't haunt you forever.

Livestrong.Org

Lance on Cancer
Comeback 2.0



MB

Funniest $hit

Wow, the guys over at www.CreakyRowBoat.com pump out some classic stuff....other times they just dig it up. This has to be one of my favs as of late.


Hit play.

Team Mapple Tour

Here we are, on the cusp of 2010 and another season on the water is just around the corner.

For the past two summers, my girlfriend Jenny LaBaw and I have been traveling the country, on the road: "The Face To Face Tour" we called it. Don't wanna bore with details so if you want to see the proof, head to http://www.FaceToFaceTour.com

Ultimately, it was our effort (and really the first true effort within water skiing) at an all out Blitzkrieg on the public. We wanted to head back to our roots where the sport began, and really touch lives and create a positive influence,…with water sports the underlying theme. Our goal: to grow the industry and water sports in general.

One Great memory I have looking back on everything was a seemingly harmless post on a water ski forum last year. Some guy gets on the forum, and starts ripping on us, on what we were doing. It was just after the economy crashed (for lack of a better term, I have an engineering degree not an english major) and things were bad. The boating and water sports industry was struggling. Here we were with a 1 year head start on all the mess and hopefully enough momentum to help contribute to the recovery of the industry (after all, the initial goal was to grow the industry) and some dude is laying into us: "just a wannabe rasta stoner living in a bus, traveling the countryside, partying and stealing peoples hard earned money, living the life while working people are out here suffering….."

Sometimes people talk when they don't know anything about a topic….when they have no clue as to the facts. We all pass judgement, we're all human. This guy was no exception.

I am no exception either. Just a few weeks ago, I caught wind that Andy and Deena Mapple were going to hit the road with a nationwide tour. Sparing the details, it sounded pretty close to what we are doing with the Face To Face Tour. They are calling it the Team Mapple Tour. I was instantly bummed. Thoughts were racing, I was offended that someone else would "steal" our idea, and I was basically passing judgement on something I hadn't even thought about yet and without any facts to go on.

By the time my vision cleared back up and I was able to pull my fist out of the drywall, it hit me: This WAS our goal all along. We started the Tour not only to reach out on our own…..but also to be a potential model for others in the sport. For a while now we have been waiting for someone else in water skiing to start their own deal and hoped the idea would catch fire. Andy and Deena, between the two of them, have 21 World Records, 11 World Championship titles, 26 National titles, 34 US Masters Titles, 15 US Open Titles, 12 Pro Tour Titles, 3 World Cup Titles and 230+ Professional Victories. It is a huge compliment, and I was pissed that possibly the 2 greatest skiers of all time were the first to follow our lead. What a total idiot.

Jenny and I are thrilled to know that Deena and Andy Mapple will be out on the road, doing the dirty work, growing, promoting, learning and sharing everything they know with anyone willing to ante up and join them. The rest of the industry should be thrilled as well.

MB

http://www.teammapple.com

A Day in The Life of Will Asher: Syndicate Team Rider

Possibly the most dedicated and best skier in the world right now, Team Syndicate Rider will Asher takes us thru a day in the life.....

Must be nice.

HO/Syndicate Home

Down Home Tour

So I know its winter, and everyone is bummed about the COLD.  In light of that, I will have to apologize in advance for any and all previous and future postings regarding things other than Water Skiing.  Actually, this apology goes for the life of this blog, because I will continue to post 'off topic' as long as there are legendary things to post about.

Such is the case this weekend on the west coast, as Glen Plake (& wife Kimberly) kick off yet another season of the "Down Home Tour"....his grassroots skiing outreach effort.

Check it out!!

Plake's Blog

StillerStrong?? For Real?

Off Season

Backyard Edit from Greg Allen on Vimeo.

These guys from Nova Scotia posted this on ProSkiCoach

Apparently its too cold to water ski up there right now.....This is sick!

With this they won the Team Salomon 2009 Backyard Jib contest.....nice effort guys!

http://www.freeskier.com/articles/article.php?article_id=4418


Still PATIENTLY awaiting snow here in the High Rockies of CO!

Old School Hope

So today I was hoping to get some goodies together for you all, some cool footage.  But thru the process of beginning to put it all together, I found a "golden oldie" on my hard drive and figured it could be recycled and used again.  So, until someone actually does work, this is all you get.  For now.

Just a reminder of the hope our sport once had.  Of what is possible.  Of where we might try to take water skiing in the future....

Ahhh FALL!

You know, water skiing is a great sport. Only problem is, you can't do it year round out here on the west coast. I mean, you can, but it just isn't the same. Water is sub 50's and the air is saturated and cold. Soooo, we are constantly looking for the off-season 'fix'. Something to take our mind off the fact that we wanna be out slayin turns.

Since the fall had been so dry out here in the Mtn west, the MTB scene was hittin. With MTB meccas like Fruita and Moab only 1 hr and 2.5 hrs away, it seemed logical to hit the trails AMAP (as much as possible). After a swing thru Moab en route (from Cali to Colorado) and a few trips to Fruita, it was time to head back to Moab for some more classics.

I met up with Cali skiers, Chad Pope & Steve Shroeder (they may be holding hands...I'd rather not know)-->  out in Moab about 2 weeks ago. Steve was on a high after picking up the newest addition to his quiver....the all new Santa Cruz Blur LT CARBON. A$$hole.....the thing weighs like 9 lbs! Pope's VP Free and my Nomad (heavyweights compared to the Blur) gave us that constant feeling of double flats everytime we looked up to see Shroeder pulling away.....with seemingly no effort.

Saturday we hit Amasa Back and cranked all the way out to Pothole Arch, an unbelievably scenic ride.

3 hours later, we were sitting in a pub in Downtown Moab, recharging for the afternoon. An hour later we were slaying (or trying to slay) slickrock trail....a bunch of rookies, we ended up losing a man (spun a derailleur) and managed to ride the loop backwards. Still, super sick, super sticky, steep steep sandstone slickrock sillyness....pretty much an endless natural terrain park for bikes.

It was the perfect day (except for the rear cassette I broke trying to smash up those slickrock steeps!)

Next day, Sunday, we tuned up the bikes (new derailleur, new cable housing on the VP and a new cassette for the Nomad) and hitched a shuttle ride up to the base of the La Sal Mountains (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Sal_Range), which turned out to be unreal country, once again.

 A totally different world than Amasa Back the day before. Well, the ride (Hazard to UPS to....Moab) was legendary.....starting at 9000' and ending just above 4000', it was pretty much 25+ miles of all downhill. Steeps, cliffs, canyons, steps and drops. Classic Moab ride.

Just one little set back. A 5 ft rock drop with a flat landing. I saw Shroeder stick it just ahead of me. I tapped my breaks, then decided to charge it.....shoulda known better.

*/reflects on sequence of events
*/shakes head for the 1,327th time
*/tries to shrug if off and forgets shoulder can't shrug yet....Damn that hurts!

Well, like I said, this is the first broken bone from something other than water skiing, and the first collar bone ever.....was bound to happen.  Only down side to it all was we still had over 1.5 hrs of riding techy singly single before reaching the homebase (the van).  Good thing no one thought it was snapped.  Two weeks in and its healing up nicely. 4 or 5 more and maybe it'll be ready for Highlands Bowl & Squaw.

Till then, there are a few other things in the works to keep the mind off the broken wing.

Stay tuned for more updates and releases!

Virtual Coaching Available Now!

Just wanted to let you all know that I am partnering with
ProSkiCoach.com to be one of the Pro Coaches to choose from.

I feel Virtual Coaching is potentially the next best thing to having
us right in the boat, with you, during a ski set. The nice thing
about Virtual Coaching is that its relatively cost effective when
compared to flying us to your lake, or you flying to ours.
Additionally, Virtual Coaching can provide you with consistency.
Because of its cost effectiveness, you can begin to develop a long
term game plan, knowing you won't be left in the dark after 1 or 2
lessons. In other words, you'll always have your coach there when you
need them. The best part about it all is you'll have an 'online'
account of all your lessons, what you learned and its effectiveness
(through your ski logs). This all sums to create a pretty
ridiculously good package.

Probably should check it out...sooner than later.

Here's the link:
http://www.proskicoach.com/pros/coaching/

Oh, and make sure you keep your eyes open,...ProSkiCoach.com might be
bulking up and popping out a few more surprises in the months to come.

MB

p.s. - its snow ski season! Plake...rockin the HO Syndicate!

ProSkiCoach!

Don't forget to check out ProSkiCoach.com for information, tips, and
of course, to get setup with "my ski log" to track your skiing and
setups. Simply logging your ski sets and keeping track of your
equipment can make a huge difference in your gains over the long
term. Its a good habit to get into.

ALSO, check out the Virtual Coaching tab at the top and email Wade or
myself for more information. Nothing like having a coach right in the
comfort of your own home! Trust me, you don't want to start off next
season looking like this!:

New Blog!!

Here it is! The new Blog. I'll try to keep this thing going as much as possible, with news, photos, vids, links, etc....

I'll have live tweets on the right, and hopefully more tweeters to come (other than just myself).

Email me Blog ideas!!!

Ask questions! Bring up an issue you want discussed! Be a participant and help make this a source for the latest in the water ski industry!

thx for checkin in.

MB