The Ride with Lance is an annual fund raiser for the Kitchener- Grand River Hospital and also heavily sponsored by "Mr. Blackberry" from RIM. Unfortunately for me there is an registration fee of $1500 (which isn't an issue), but you must also come up with $20,000 in pledges/ donations to GRH, in order to participate in the ride.
So, I just happen to know one of the organizers, so he put me on the guest list....
So bright and early, Saturday morning, Mrs. CG & I head out to the private "send off" for the ride. I was wearing my Livestrong Jersey under my Livestrong jacket and had a sharpie in my pocket hoping to get some signatures. (Phil Liggett, George Hincapie and Steven Bauer were also in attendance at this function.) Well as luck would have it, I had the prime opportunity after the speeches to say hello to Lance, I just walked up to him and he said "Love the shirt", to which I replied, "(chuckle) Yes, I'm a big fan! Would you please sign it for me?" He said sure, and I handed him the sharpie... While he was signing, he asked if I was riding today. I explained that I would not be so honoured, and he said "Too bad- always love to meet fans who share a common goal, maybe next time." He then asked about my Livestrong wrist band... "I never take it off- not even for sex!" He chuckled and said "How does your wife feel about that?" I replied "Not a problem, she's a fan too! (motioning towards Mrs. CG) I guess the wrist band helps visualize her fantasy!" He LOL! I also explained that I was sorry about his bad luck during stage 8, and was really pulling for his 23rd stage win (overall) during the 16th stage at this year's Tour...
I then got George, Steven and Phil's signatures as well... and got my spare Jersey signed at the first rest stop!
Some pics... (because this thread would be useless without them!)
Phil (The voice of the Tour de France) and Lance during the preliminary speeches:
The first jersey signatures: Lance, George, Phil & Steve...
The second jersey w/ just Lance's signature. (I also got a pic of him signing it while my son was wearing it, but that pic won't be posted for obvious reasons...)
My one regret was that I didn't get a pic of Lance & I... Mrs. CG accidentally touched the auto focus button as I handed her the camera and all I got was a big blur! :grrrrrr: (I really need to teach Mrs. CG how to use my camera! LOL)