Chapter 12

The next couple of days were a complete and total blur, and to be honest, it made me feel even more alive than I had in months. First, a delivery truck from Trek showed up with four new bikes for me: three road frames and a time trial bike. And they were top of the line rigs! No expense was being spared it appeared, and the old gravy train seemed to be in full swing as is often the case when ‘The Boss’ is involved. It even looked like the ‘skunk works’ known as “F-1” to the outside world was also in full swing as these bikes had that one-of-a-kind look and feel. I could only imagine what Lance’s rigs were like if my frames were this well-made.

Next came the uniform fittings, and again there were both training and team wear that arrived only a few days later from Nike. I had four new helmets and two new pairs of cycling shoes to boot! The folks at Nike still had my measurements from the old days, and everything still fit as well as I remembered. In a way, this was another good sign that I hadn’t become an ‘old guy who gets fat in winter’ racer yet! Suddenly, the side of the garage that was normally reserved for my bikes had gotten a lot too crowded! I had to move some of my older frames into storage just to find a home for the new rigs. And they were flat out beautiful. Three brand new Madone 6.9 Professionals painted in the Stars and Stripes theme that I’m sure a committee of designers had spent hours, if not days, perfecting for this last drive for the gold. And then there was my time trial frame ... my God in heaven what a sight! A brand-new Equinox 9.9 SSL with the disc rear wheel and the tri-spoke carbon fiber front wheel (and spares just in case) also painted in the Stars and Stripes theme. Hell, each frame had my name and a small American flag hand painted on them next to the down tube, just like in the old days ... and it brought back some great memories!