Thursday, September 10, 2009

Pablo And Lance Meet Again

This morning, I met up with Lance Armstrong and my Mike + The Bike homie Michael Ward in the Travel Town parking lot at Griffith Park. Michael filmed Lance and I making the Pablove Across America announcement. It will be posted shortly, and we'll be on our way to carrying Pablo's legacy to an even larger swath of the world. Our aim? Anyone with a heart.

Before we shot the video, Lance and I talked about Pablo and his kids. We've both spent many afternoons with our climbing the old trains in Travel Town. As we rode side by side to the ride start at the Zoo, I pointed out to Lance the big grass field where I taught Pablo how to ride without training wheels.

As we approached the crowd of 1000-plus riders, cops and press - with news helicopters hovering around overhead - my gut filled with butterflies. To ride into that crowd next to the man whose call to action created the melee was a deeply powerful experience. As I looked over to Lance to thank him for his unflinching support, the crowd swallowed him. The head police officer on the scene approached him with a giant smile on his face. Shook his hand. Asked how he and his men could make the ride smooth and safe. Interesting, cos on the way there Lance asked me if I thought the cops would be cool. Today's ride was a Twitter flash mob. No permits. Just a bunch of riders doing what we riders do - turning over the cranks. In this case, to show solidarity with a man whose life mission is to help every single person within 10 miles of Griffith Park and beyond.

That's the way cancer works. Turns out it'll touch the lives of everyone who is reading this and everyone you see today. All day.

The video will be posted by noon LA time. Can't wait for you to see it. Can't wait to gety this thing rolling for real. The entire Dangerbird family, along with Filter Marketing and a l o t of other people and companies, has built quite a machine with Pablove and the PAA ride. I get the same feeling when I walk into our office that I did riding into that crowd this morning: butterflies.

And you know about those....

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff -

How exciting is that riding with Lance. Wow. It amazes me how Lance personally takes time to help others in their fight against cancer. Thank You for bringing to light the need for more support for pediatric cancer. I know the Pablove Ride will bring awareness and funding. Keep up the great work.

Catherine

Anonymous said...

WOW you met Lance again. He's been a hero of mine ever since 1999...will you let us know what you guys talked about? Rock on Jeff, your work is amazing....!!

Sarah

Binkytowne said...

Amazing how that came full circle. I can't wait to see it! What an incredible day.

Jules said...

I'm so excited to see the video and hear the latest news! Are we going to be able to ride along with you for a few miles here in Austin??

Thank you for everything you do.

Anonymous said...

say hi to lance. jeff i AM SO PROUND OF YOU. I FOLLOW THE PABLO STAR EVERY NIGHT AND HE GETS US HOME EVERY TIME. LOVE An kisses TO YOU JOANN GRADY ANEVEERY ONE AROUND YOU LOVE DAD AN KATIE

Anonymous said...

say hi to lance. jeff i AM SO PROUND OF YOU. I FOLLOW THE PABLO STAR EVERY NIGHT AND HE GETS US HOME EVERY TIME. LOVE An kisses TO YOU JOANN GRADY ANEVEERY ONE AROUND YOU LOVE DAD AN KATIE

Shawn Vezinaw said...

Hey Jeff! I wanted to make the ride so bad, just wasn't in the cards for me, but I saw you on the KTLA news this morning, and it made me happy!

best, shawn

Lisa Hickey said...

Butterflies and tears is what I got just reading this post. My family will be following the Pablove Across America ride the entire way!!!! Wish it was televised like the Tour de France! I'm not much of a bike rider, I love to do little mountain bike rides up clamshell, above Monrovia with the family, but everytime I get on a bike, hubby has to teach me how to shift. ; ) My point is, my family fell in love with Pablo and your family reading Pablog and we sure would love to join you at some point on the ride in Los Angeles. I don't know if that's an option? Either way, we're behind you, supporting you, every turn of that peddle!!!! Lisa

P.S. I do have an old friend from Monrovia, (she now lives in Silverlake - Tina Tobey Conserva) who's little boy was in one of Pablo's music classes at one point. I saw her a week or so ago at a party and she shared that with me. I loved that! Peace & Love!