Good Advice from Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong is full of good advice. When he makes suggestions and recommendations, I generally follow them and he rarely steers me wrong. When I was in college, I read an interview with Lance and the author asked him who he was listening to music-wise at the time. The equivalent of today’s “What’s on your Ipod?” He said he’d been jamming out to a new band called the Dave Matthew’s Band, that they were good stuff. I took his advice, and he was right, they were and still are good stuff. When he proclaimed his love for Peet’s Coffee, I gave them a try, and he was right again. They’ve become another favorite of mine. So when he started talking about Twitter, I decided to check that out too. Call me a follower. Now, I follow many pro cyclists on Twitter. They’re an interesting group, not just as athletes, but as people too. They have good suggestions on not just cycling topics, but travel and food and music. Not to mention they offer more than a few opportunities during the day to have a laugh. It’s also a way to get updates on the sport. The Tour of California recently made their route announcement through Twitter. So if you don’t follow the Team RadioShack boys, you’re missing out. Here’s a recap of what some of them have been up to lately:

@LanceArmstrong (2.2 Million followers!) – Lance has been travelling all over the place lately being a cancer fighting machine. On Halloween weekend he was in New York City raising money for Livestrong by auctioning off his Treks from this season. Between that and the Livestrong team running the NYC Marathon, over $2 million was raised. That’s a busy and productive weekend! In between, he dressed up for Halloween with his family. Think Mellow Johnny just sports yellow in July?

Lance has also been hosting the 13th annual Ride for the Roses event and STAGES art exhibit, vacationing in Cabo with the family, lunching with Johan and Nicholas Sarkozy in Paris, checking out the NYC organic market with Mayor Bloomberg, participating in the Race Across the Sky film about his Leadville 100 victory, running, playing tennis, snorkeling, golfing, mountain biking, does he ever sleep?

@LeviLeipheimer (74,622 followers) – So what’s Levi Leipheimer been up to? Well, he’s been the force behind Levi’s Gran Fondo, an event that raised money for the Forget Me Not Farm of Sonoma County, which helps at-risk youth, and Levi’s hometown of Santa Rosa, so that they can host a stage of the Tour of California. Speaking of the ToC, Levi helped announce the route via Twitter (with a meniton that he would be back to defend his title). He’s also been out mountain biking in Utah and Sonoma County where he encountered a mountain lion! Be careful out there, Levi!

@JohanBruyneel (47,803 followers)– What about Johan you ask? He wasn’t tweeting much for a while because he was down with the flu, which caused him to miss the first part of his much anticipated trip to South Africa to be a part of the World Bicycle Relief Million Dollar Ride. This organization is a non-profit funded by SRAM and is headed up by SRAM’s president, F.K. Day. It works to provide bicycles not to racers, but everyday people to increase their productivity. These bikes will provide a faster way for school children to get to their classes and provide transport for HIV educators and those making food and medical deliveries.

@SamBewley (1,026 followers) – Sam’s making the move in 2010 from the Trek Livestrong Under-23 team to Team Radio Shack. Lately, he’s been back in his native New Zealand and hasn’t slowed down. He’s competed in the windy Powernet Tour of Southland, where his teammate Heath Blackgrove took victory, and then on to the track for the Oceania Games in Invercargill where he took the bronze medal in the 4000 meter individual pursuit. He’s having better luck in cycling then he had betting on the Melbourne Cup horse race!

@BjornSelander (1,418 followers)– Bjorn is also graduating to the big leagues from the Trek Livestrong Under-23 team. He’s been “bro’ing” down with Lance lately in Austin, watching the bats fly,his first American football game and riding in the Ride for the Roses event. You can also check out a somewhat graphic photo of his recently pulled wisdom teeth! The things you have to get to in the off season.

@Janibrajkovic (6,100 followers) – Jani’s been enjoying his new Trek XO2 cyclocross bike to get his 2010 training off to a good start. He’s been out training in his native Slovenia, where the whether has turned cold and rainy. The XO2 is the right bike for that. No doubt he’s enjoying the off season with his family.

@Chechu_Rubiera (525 followers) – Chechu has been visiting Stateside with his father to check in on BarLata, a Spanish tapas restaurant in Oakland, California in which Chechu is a partner. Before and after this trip, he has been racing in some local events in his native Spanish region of Asturias, such as the Criterium Ciudad de Oviedo and the Campeonato ACP in nearby Leon. Many other pro riders are from this region as well, so even off season criteriums draw a great field. He was very excited to reach his 500th follower – why not help him close in on 1,000?

If you’re not already counted among the followers, get on board. And don’t forget to follow @TeamRadioShack (40,751 followers) too!

Last but not least, follow this site, teamradioshack.us @TeamRadioshackF

By Nikki Bair, staff writer