# Armstrong's return starts this weekend: Tour de Gruene



## Tig (Feb 9, 2004)

One of my Team Tilson Homes team mates is reconning the Tour de Gruene course this week, as well as a Lance sighting in his email:

*After bumpin' into the tour de Greune director last night at Greune 
Hall, he tells us Lance A. is in for next week’s race. I said every 
promoter says that and its 95% BS, He says nope-got his money today 
and he's comin’ tomorrow sometime to pre-ride, and he's bringin’ Matthew 
McConaughey and Vince Vaughn to the race next weekend. Whatever.
Woke up this morning and its damn cold and windy. I figure Lance wont 
ride in the cold and wait awhile before I troll the road lookin' for him. 
Got out around 10am, head to Greune from 1st crossing, no Lance. Headed 
back to River Road, rode around the campground then back down River 
Rd, pass the 1st crossing, headed toward the 2nd, where after the 
turn I see 2 riders in the distance, one in yellow and one in red, 
just dropped off by this black suburban. I come up on the suburban 
and it has a LiveStrong sticker across the back and a dude gettin' in 
that in retrospect was Chris Carmichael. "Oh shoot its Lance up 
there!" I hit the gas. I’m on a brand new MTB Salsa Dos Niner. 
They're about 100 meters away, just getting started on this little 
long uphill, so it looks all good to catch 'em. Then about ¾’s of 
the way to them, they're not coming so close! 








I kinda' start to panic thinking I'm not gonna' catch 'em! The wind’s 
blowin' hard and I'm a little excited about this moment, there is no 
one on this road but us three and Carmichael, and if they hit the top 
of this hill-they are gone, and then I start thinking how tragic it 
would be NOT to catch ‘em. Then I figure on a plan B: I'm just gonna 
scream, "Lance slow down! UR goin' too fast! Come back!!!" and cry 
like a baby. 
Luckily, I didn’t have to use plan B, I caught up to them, hung on 
their wheel for awhile, said “hello”, they both looked back and said 
“howdy”, then commenced to hit the afterburners and away they went. I 
snapped a few photos, and Carmichael blew past me in the suburban a 
few minutes later. I've never seen a guy so low, comfortable and fluid 
in position as Lance in his time trial rig. Impressive!








So, bottom line is LA IS racing this weekend and bets are probably good 
on that McConaughey and Vaughn thing. 
The great thing about this year is that the race course goes out and 
back on River Road, so you can watch them both ways. *


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## bigmig19 (Jun 27, 2008)

Were be this Tour de Gruene? Vince Vaughn would be cool as hel to meet, McConaghey not so much. VV needs a BIG TT bike. Big tree fall hard.


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## sbindra (Oct 18, 2004)

*Lance has done it*

Looks like a charity/social ride. If you look at their website, Lance has participated in the past so it makes sense that now that he has returned to racing, he starts getting out to do events like this. Plus, it's in Texas.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

Lance's return started the day after he retired.


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## jhamlin38 (Oct 29, 2005)

Cool story. Thanks for sharing. As a LA fan, I like hearing stuff like this. If you go to the ride/race, bring the cam for some more pics.


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

Andrea138 said:


> Lance's return started the day after he retired.












Sorry, it had to be done.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

I hate it when celeb's show up at my races.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

hehehe... It can't be THAT obvious if people are surprised when he comes out of retirement!


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

Tig said:


> One of my Team Tilson Homes team mates is reconning the Tour de Gruene course this week, as well as a Lance sighting in his email:
> 
> *After bumpin' into the tour de Greune director last night at Greune
> Hall, he tells us Lance A. is in for next week’s race. I said every
> ...


If guy in Suburban was driving it wasn't Carmichael, it was Dave his follow guy. His currrent set-up was dialed in by Steve Hed a few days ago. Seat is lower than in the past but further back in the rails.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

hey Teo, any idea what LA's doing with cleat position these days? wondering if the foot-forward thing has caught his fancy.


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

Creakyknees said:


> hey Teo, any idea what LA's doing with cleat position these days? wondering if the foot-forward thing has caught his fancy.



Still pretty conventional though he is now on Keo's instead of Shimano. The bike isn't all that special, Hed did some non-standard cable routing but aside from that nothing too radical or that will shake the world up.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

teoteoteo said:


> Still pretty conventional though he is now on Keo's instead of Shimano. The bike isn't all that special, Hed did some non-standard cable routing but aside from that nothing too radical or that will shake the world up.


It's a TTX 9.9 SSL right?

Not much you can do with the cables on that from what I see on my version.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

teoteoteo said:


> ...The bike isn't all that special....


hmmm an $8k TT bike... not all that special

spoken like a true, jaded, person who works at a high end bike shop


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## cydswipe (Mar 7, 2002)

Is he getting the band back together as far as the whole Giro-Trek-Nike-Shimano-Hed project? Or is it more of a Blues Brothers 2000, sort of the same with fill ins for the originals?


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

uzziefly said:


> It's a TTX 9.9 SSL right?
> 
> Not much you can do with the cables on that from what I see on my version.


Yes a custom paint TTX. 

Cable routing had more to do with the aerobars than the frame but then again it was the first time I'd seen this set of bars. I don't know for a fact that they are special other than that they showed up overnight Saturday delivery. Other departures are from the beloved Concor Light.


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

cydswipe said:


> Is he getting the band back together as far as the whole Giro-Trek-Nike-Shimano-Hed project? Or is it more of a Blues Brothers 2000, sort of the same with fill ins for the originals?


Great analogy. 

Some are, others not. Hed is back and Giro seems to be a given. Shimano of course went away when he invested in Sram. Just as things were in the past I think some of the changes could very well change. Especially in the equipment department.


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

Creakyknees said:


> hmmm an $8k TT bike... not all that special
> 
> spoken like a true, jaded, person who works at a high end bike shop



It's taken years of seasoning to get where I am creak...


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## MaestroXC (Sep 15, 2005)

If your TT bike only costs $8K, you ain't trying.


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## travis.dubose (Sep 25, 2005)

*Wish i could be there*

I went to college in San Antonio and going up to ride River Road was always one of my favorite things to do on Saturday mornings when everyone else was hungover. I distincly remember doing it one January when it was about 40 degrees and i forgot my tights, did the whole damn thing in shorts with tall black socks, Lance style. Its was miserable. Its a beautiful ride, wish i could make it down to watch the race. Unfortunately i live in NorCal now and thats not really an option. Damn.

I halfway expected Lance to just show up without a recon ride and just kill everyone since this thing is in November. The again, i guess that's not a very Lance-like thing to do. 

I'm certainly jealous of all my fellow Texans who get to go see it, but i guess it shifts the other way when the ToC goes down in February. Enjoy, folks.


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## sabre104 (Dec 14, 2006)

Does anyone have a update on yesterdays results ??


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## jerm182 (Jul 18, 2008)

Per http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/33705079.html

Armstrong, 37, finished with a race-best 33:14, almost two minutes faster than his nearest competitor, Erick Benz, but he was still critical of his performance.


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## Rosicky (Mar 30, 2005)

He won but is not too happy with his performance.....

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/33705079.html


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## Susan Walker (Mar 21, 2008)

From mysanantonio.com


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

Can anyone comment on the course/conditions? 33min for a 26km TT (46.8km/hr) is pretty slow for a GT hopeful. In english units, that's 1.5mph off pace for the first 29.5km TT in this year's TdF.

Granted, it's hard to compare times during everyone's peak in France vs an off-season small race in texas. But, it's probably safe to assume lance wasn't dogging it.


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## QUiTSPiNiNArOuND (Mar 15, 2002)

Wasn't the rider who won that 1st TT on CERA? I think Schumacher was in a class by himself in that TT. Although Lance's ride wasn't mind boggling, in retrospect, it's a pretty good ride time trial considering it is his first one in 3+ years.


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

I'm sure they'll mash over the numbers and see how it comes out. On Monday that bike didn't even have any power apparatus on it so they are really just getting started. Something to note is that this course was not closed to traffic so the ability to let it all hang out was a wee bit less than a GT TT.


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## yater (Nov 30, 2006)

iliveonnitro said:


> Can anyone comment on the course/conditions? 33min for a 26km TT (46.8km/hr) is pretty slow for a GT hopeful. In english units, that's 1.5mph off pace for the first 29.5km TT in this year's TdF.
> 
> Granted, it's hard to compare times during everyone's peak in France vs an off-season small race in texas. But, it's probably safe to assume lance wasn't dogging it.



It's not worth discussing unless they're riding the same course.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

The course is along a river, so the overall elevation is pretty flat. But, the road crosses and re-crosses the river so there almost zero level sections - it's basically up and down the whole time, either as a false flat drag, or ~200 meter steep rollers. It's impossible to settle into a steady rythm - you're shifting constantly. 

But I'm guessing LA was more interested in his power file than the time or who he beat. 

And, yeah there were cars on the course but I don't know if any messed w/ LA. I suspect not, since he had a big ol' motorcycle entourage with him.

Oh yeah, here's the pic I got of him coming back to the finish.


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

Excellent pic, Creaky!

JSR


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

Regardless of what people have to say about Lance....Averaging 29.969 mph for 16.6 miles after not really competing for 3 years is pretty dang impressive even if it was a fairly flat course...though sounds like a bit more of a slightly rolling course.


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

He changed positions from Saturday to Sunday. Saturday was a new fit. It didn't work so he changed and Sunday he said he felt better.


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## Howzitbroke (Jun 1, 2005)

Looks like he has some new upper body bulk now. Well bulk more like original Lance. Not bulk like a normal dude. Still a motor though. This season will be fun. Great pic.


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## zosocane (Aug 29, 2004)

Oustanding pic. Subtle hint of the Dead Elvis Grin.


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

You can judge his results against the other riders that day, to some extent. ~2mins up on a ~33min course...That's significant. I am sure the second place rider was no slow dog..

It's cool to see the guy come out of retirement and put up performances, rather than just sit back and BS about 'I coulda, in MY day, beat_____, except that____' and stuff like that.

Even an "Icon" like LA has to turn those cranks and when the watch stops...that is it. Racing, it matters not what you say..It's what you do on race day...


Don Hanson


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

*TTT time*

They rode the 27.2 mile course in 56:37. 

Don Hanson


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## travis.dubose (Sep 25, 2005)

Here's Velonews:

http://www.velonews.com/article/84814

I wouldn't call River Road flat at all. Sure, there aren't any significant climbs, but like Creakyknees said, there are basically no flat sections, it's constantly going up and down. Averaging 29mph with a set up that sounds like it wasn't even close to dialed in, is damn impressive. 

I don't see him killing it on the climbs like he used to, it looks like his upper body has bulked up a bit. But i don't think an impressive TT win or doing some serious work on the flats for Contador in the Tour is out of the question. The climbing intensive Giro though, may be a bit of a stretch. 

Still, very cool. Great pics.


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## android (Nov 20, 2007)

Here's the profile of the course from my Garmin. The constant up and down is a lot harder than most 40K TT courses. Total gain/loss is around 1900 ft.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Thanks for the elev chart, Android. my TTT partner cracks me up - every year he says " I need a better warmup because I never start feeling good till that last few miles into town."

Then yesterday he was like "man I felt great those last few miles, we were rolling along at like 27-28!"

Yeah, I usually feel better on downhills, too.


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

Spoke to Korioth today and he told me the position change for Lance made a night and day difference in his ability to even stay on Lance's wheel. I spoke with Lance last night and he echo'd the same thing. They did some rides early this week (as noted in story above) and according to Korioth things went fine as he was able to ride on LA's wheel and trade pulls. Basically, the fit Hed did was an experiment and Saturday it was clear that it didn't work from Lance's and Hed's opinion. 

Korioth said Sunday he was basically red-lined just staying on LA's wheel and whatever changes were made it was very evident to him that Lance was much stronger than in their pre-rides.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

wow... amazing such a small change can make such a difference.

would love to have a look at the power files.


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

Semi hijack: 

"My" LBS has a fit bike (from Ritchey, or someone) with easily adjusted parts for position changes. The owner is very versed in set-up, especially for TTs (Former Nat. Masters champ). He uses a power tap to fine tune positions on that set-up and has made some spectacular gains, both on his own position and a few pro triathletes..It *does* make a big difference in your power. But you have to keep in mind not compromising your aero position in search of max power..

That tt course profile looks wicked.

Don Hanson


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## cobm428 (Jun 20, 2008)

The man still has it I rode the Livestrong challenge on october 26 he finish 90 miles on 3 hour and 10 minutes on some harsh roads


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## CARBON110 (Apr 17, 2002)

I love how people are questioning his climbing ability after he destroyed everyone 7 times by record time differences - especially based on a pic lawls if you have seen him without his shirt during his Tour days he looked the same, he is a rock. He reminds me of some of the attributes Autistic kids I work with possess- total fixation. It takes more than a trainer to get into that kind of shape and athleticism 

for those of you who have raced for multiple years training isn't predictable but you know what you're doing, need to work on, where to practice it, and the like or how much how long it will take you and the specific tests accompanied by using scientific data like SRMs

if anything Lance is focused and meticulous compared to other riders lifestyles. He is also one of the more experienced successful tour riders ( understatement ) and has invaluable support in every area, give the guy a little credit lol averaging 28+ mph for more than a few minutes much less the duration of a TT is [email protected] fast in November lol or any other time of the year

DAYUM


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## ROGER79 (Dec 29, 2005)

*Huhhhhhh????*

What's with the SRAM stuff, I'm surprised Shimano "Let" him ride with that...


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## jerm182 (Jul 18, 2008)

Per the Internets:

"Mr. Armstrong is investing several million dollars into SRAM, where he will serve as a technical adviser. He has agreed to use SRAM components when he races. A full set of top-of-the-line SRAM road-bike components retails for about $2,000."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122230356936173641.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace


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## bigpinkt (Jul 20, 2006)

ROGER79 said:


> What's with the SRAM stuff, I'm surprised Shimano "Let" him ride with that...


It seems like everyone is leaving Shimano these days....even Shimano has left Shimano.


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## cobm428 (Jun 20, 2008)

He is using Sram group because he will be riding with Team Astana and Sram is the sponsor for that team even if he wanted it to use shimano the team;s contrac will prevent him from using it!!
So he is trying to get used to the different mechanism


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

cobm428 said:


> H
> So he is trying to get used to the different mechanism


Not entirely true. Even months before the comeback Sram was on the radar and would have happened with or without the comeback plans. He is an investor as others have noted, but that kind of thing doesn't happen overnight, it happens over time with due diligence and research. Doing things like riding Sram groups on personal bikes that aren't in the public eye, etc


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Wait, wasn't he riding with his friend College?

If so, of course he couldn't go max out so that just shows how good College is too.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

iliveonnitro said:


> Can anyone comment on the course/conditions? 33min for a 26km TT (46.8km/hr) is pretty slow for a GT hopeful. In english units, that's 1.5mph off pace for the first 29.5km TT in this year's TdF.
> 
> Granted, it's hard to compare times during everyone's peak in France vs an off-season small race in texas. But, it's probably safe to assume lance wasn't dogging it.



Wasn't he riding a TTT with a 2 man team?

Nothing off for that at all if so.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

Oh and by the way, those bars are the exact TT base bars Levi has on his bike as well (I so happen to have them too) - Bontrager Race X Lite Carbon bullhorn 

and the clip ons are probably either HED's like Levi uses or so.

They sacrifice a tad on the stiffness aspect but offer a lot more customization for sure.


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

uzziefly said:


> Wait, wasn't he riding with his friend College?
> 
> If so, of course he couldn't go max out so that just shows how good College is too.


Lance rode two TT's this past weekend. The first was an ITT that was 16.6 miles in length in which he averaged just under 30 mph for the race. It looks to have been a rolling course so hard to establish a rhythm. He also changed his position on the bike from that ITT to the TTT the next day which seemed to help...so he might have gone faster with the different position. Regardless...holding 30 mph for a 16.6 mile ITT is pretty impressive for a November/off season race.

The TTT was a two man race and he rode it with one of his buddies who is also part of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The guy is the Masters 40-45 age group national Time Trial champion...so he's no slouch on a bike. However, from the sound of it Lance was doing most of the pulling and was much stronger in the TTT.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

interview and power file w/ Korioth from Sunday's TTT:

http://blog.trainingpeaks.com/2008/...-racing-with-lance-at-the-tour-de-gruene.html

John describes his experience as “probably the hardest thing I have ever done on a bike.”


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## cdhbrad (Feb 18, 2003)

Armstrong's power numbers would have been even more impressive since he was doing most of the work.


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## bianchi77 (Jul 15, 2008)

nice to see Armstrong in your side...why don't you take pictures of him ?


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

Wookiebiker said:


> Lance rode two TT's this past weekend. The first was an ITT that was 16.6 miles in length in which he averaged just under 30 mph for the race. It looks to have been a rolling course so hard to establish a rhythm. He also changed his position on the bike from that ITT to the TTT the next day which seemed to help...so he might have gone faster with the different position. Regardless...holding 30 mph for a 16.6 mile ITT is pretty impressive for a November/off season race.
> 
> The TTT was a two man race and he rode it with one of his buddies who is also part of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The guy is the Masters 40-45 age group national Time Trial champion...so he's no slouch on a bike. However, from the sound of it Lance was doing most of the pulling and was much stronger in the TTT.


Not to be the jerk that I normally am but Korioth was National Champ this year in the road race, he was likke 4 or 6th in the TT. He is strong. Not a small guy but plenty powerful.


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## 2ndPlace (Sep 17, 2008)

iliveonnitro said:


> Can anyone comment on the course/conditions? 33min for a 26km TT (46.8km/hr) is pretty slow for a GT hopeful. In english units, that's 1.5mph off pace for the first 29.5km TT in this year's TdF.
> 
> Granted, it's hard to compare times during everyone's peak in France vs an off-season small race in texas. But, it's probably safe to assume lance wasn't dogging it.



i even question doing full bore TT's during winter training anyways. 

looks more like another photo opt than an actual race. 
i wonder where he is in his base training? 

he must have alot of building to do to get back up to stage race mileage.


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

*Question away..it's his training...*



2ndPlace said:


> i even question doing full bore TT's during winter training anyways.
> 
> looks more like another photo opt than an actual race.
> i wonder where he is in his base training?
> ...


 I am sure Armstrong probably knows how he needs to train, after all those years of doing it so well. If he has any questions, he can ask CC or Johan or any of the others in his steller "brain-trust" or Groupies (if you prefer) ..but he pretty much has it figured out, I'd say. He's not just doing a regular 'winter training' program..He's coming back after a 3 season lay off..

I saw another article on the net where he won a 28 mi (Texas) mountain bike race this past weekend. 

I think he's probably, besides getting in base miles, trying to re-acquaint himself with the focus and pain needed to win races...since he's just been layin' around with Starlets and movie hunks since his last Tour...' It's probably a smart move to get into a bunch of races...as training and as a goad to train. 

It's probably tough to be 'expected' to win every 'little' race...and to know there are thousands in the highest ranks of the Professional Cycling 'business' who'd cream their shorts if he lost a race before his professional 're-debut'.(in just a couple of months, right?)..

And no matter who it is...Father time never forgets you..Eventually, everyone gets slower no matter how hard and smart they train...

I hope he does well..

Don Hanson


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## travis.dubose (Sep 25, 2005)

*Lance's training for a sample week in October...according to CC in Bicycling*

I'm sure most of you saw it, but here's an article in Bicycling by Carmichael that gives his training rides for a sample week in October. He's definitely still building a base. I'm assuming the "Tuesday Night Ride" is the Tuesday Nighter in Austin. Anyone here do the Tuesday Nighter and seen Lance? Thats one of those things i really miss about not living in Texas anymore. 

Anyway, there's certainly more to his training than this, but it gives us a little peek at what he's up to. Looks like he's certainly taking this pretty seriously. I would expect nothing less.


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## SlowBikeRacer (Nov 7, 2005)

Tour De Gruene course is very curvy and has a lot of small hills (from what I remember doing the TTT 16 years ago.) Fun road to ride on.


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## brentster (Jul 12, 2007)

He just won a mountain bike race this past weekend and it's cool how he told them to give the other guys his prize money. Rocky Hill is one of the premier mtn biking destinations in Texas. It's in Smithville, where the movie "Hope Floats" starring Sandra Buttock was filmed.

Pics and description attached:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunandski/sets/72157608963273234/


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