Training Diary: Reporting on Lance Armstrong and riding Pearl Pass

It was a weekend of great contrast here in the land of the coached.

The latest adventure started in Crested Butte last Friday when I got a call from the VeloNews edit desk. Turned out one Lance Armstrong was going to be racing near Aspen the following Sunday, and they wanted to know if I could pop by and grab an interview. The recently un-retired Tour champ would be contesting the 12 Hours of Snowmass cross-country race, and hopefully talking more about why he's decided to turn in his AARP membership card.

I, on the other hand, was in Crested Butte a day ahead of participating in my first Pearl Pass Tour, an annual ride that this year celebrated its 32nd anniversary. The event first happened back in the mid-1970s long before anyone had ever heard of mountain biking.

Instead weighty one-speed klunkers with coaster brakes were the mode of transport for the ride over a gnarly jeep road that tops out above 12,000 feet and connects then-grungy Crested Butte with still-hoity-toity Aspen. Back then beer subsisted for Gatorade, cut-off jeans replaced chamois shorts, and a little 420-green filled in for EPO and all the other stuff we hear about today.

Over the years, the Pearl Pass Tour became a proving ground, as fat-tire technology evolved. Legends such as Gary Fisher, Scott Nicol, Tom Ritchey and Joe Breeze can all be spotted in early event photos, testing out the gear that helped make mountain biking the great sport it is today. This year, outside of Mountain Bike Hall of Fame co-directors (and inductees) Don Cook and his wife Kay Peterson-Cook, there were no luminaries along for the ride. Instead it was a mix of Crested Butte locals and curious out-of-towners like myself.

What it must have been like back in those fledgling days when mountain biking was in its infancy. Imagine the ecstasy experienced by those early pioneers who were riding around in the woods for the first time.

At the other end of the spectrum was the return of Lance. The news - first reported here on VeloNews.com - has the sport buzzing during a time of year when most fans attention typically turns to fantasy football, baseball playoffs and cyclocross. Instead, we've all been left to ponder such delicious questions as, who fetches the bottles, Lance or Alberto? Or if they end up on different teams (a much more likely scenario if you ask me), can an aging Armstrong hang with the young gun when he gives him the look and takes off up Alpe d'Huez like a turbo-charged moped. My money is on the kid, but having Le Boss back will certainly makes things interesting.

Already his effect is being felt. Under normal circumstances, the crowd at the first-year Snowmass race would have consisted of moms, dads, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends and confused passersby. Instead, there was an actual crowd, plus a bunch of media types, including Denver's two daily newspapers, The Associated Press and even a duo from L'Equipe - Lance's favorite French sports daily.

After the awards ceremony, Armstrong played it pretty close to the vest when asked about his return (more news will be unveiled on September 24th in New York City). But it's clear he's in part motivated by the common notion of cycling "before" being "dirty" and cycling "now" being at least "less dirty," which in turn is a slap at what he accomplished during those seven Julys in France. Anyway, it's going to be fun watching it all play out.

So what does any of this have to do with the usual contents of this column? Well, nothing really. But it all made for an interesting weekend. After chasing Armstrong around on Sunday, I saddled back up on the mountain bike and rode back to Crested Butte where my car was parked. And being that I didn't feel like re-tracing Pearl Pass or navigating another more unfamiliar backwoods path, I opted for a paved road/fire road route that covered about 90 miles and included McClure Pass and Kebler Pass. Unlike the route over Pearl Pass, these roads were smooth - so smooth that I would have been far better off with a road bike. But oh well, a tough day of biking is better than a lot of other things.

Okay, that's it from me for this week. Next go round I promise to be more on point, as I start to make an earnest effort to transition into cyclocross racing mode.