Sunday, July 25 - Paris  # 6 continued

Levi Leipheimer jumped the curb and rode by us giving everyone a High Five as he passed. Paolo Bettini started waving his arms like a music director to coincide with our singing. When the Phonak team arrived, Tyler got out of the car to join the team for their picture. Our group raised the cheering level so much, they pulled a bike off the car to let Tyler ride the rest of the Champs with the team. Even Jan Ullrich and Eric Zabel of T-Mobile gave us big waves smiles as we cheered for them.

Finally we got what we were waiting for as Lance and US Postal arrived. It was almost deafening, it was so loud. All the guys were laughing and waving at us. I had made some yellow SIX cards which included the LAF logo and LiveStrong and had passed them out to our group. I was waving the remaining cards at the guys in hopes that someone would take them and give them to the team or Lance to hold up for pictures. I had counted the cards to see if I had enough for the entire team, but I was short, ironically I only had six left. As they began to roll off, Lance turned and rode directly towards me. He got off his bike, as two photographers did face plants into the street as they ran to get the picture. Lance's face was priceless as he looked at them sprawled on the ground and shrugged, then shook my hand and took the remaining SIX cards and sat on his bike right in front of us. The photographers circled in front of Lance and clicked away as the crowd cheered behind him. I had hoped to get the cards in a picture, which is why I included the LAF logo and LiveStrong on them, but I never would have dreamed that Lance would end up holding them. Lance turned after a minute and handed me the six, SIX cards back, then rode on down the Champs Elysees. It took a while for everything to calm down after that. Most of our group said it's goodbyes and headed into different directions. Part of the group wasn't ready to let it end, so we walked down the street and found a place to have dinner. We eventually ended our evening and said good bye to the last of our group, John and 'helmet' Shane.

   The next day we met Chris Brewer and walked around Paris and checked out the beer temperature at a few cafes. We shared stories and CB was still laughing at our private box seating section on the Champs yesterday. We were so glad he finally got to come to France for a few days of the Tour. He has done an incredible job over the past several years maintaining Lance's website.

   This was our fourth consecutive Tour de France to support Lance. This has been a very small part of the enormous change that cancer brought into our lives. We spend two weeks in France waving LAF & LiveStrong signs around trying to get them on tv or in pictures and talking to people about the LAF and the Peloton Project. That's our vacation. Then we spend the rest of the year doing the same thing at home. Cancer has added stress and taken family and friends from our lives, but gave us a renewed celebration of things that are important. Sometimes an obstacle may seem too big for one person to affect. If you work together, as a team, you can make a difference. This year's yellow wristbands are a good example of that. Only one dollar each, but sell millions and you can make a difference.

   We don't know if a 2005 journal is in the future or not right now. But if Lance rides, we'll be there just like those other guys, chasing the jersey.

Hope you enjoyed our journey.

Jerry & Angie Kelly