Well the world of sports & entertainment was all ears as the cycling god, Lance Armstrong came clean about the doping that he's done in his career. He seemed to be at ease with the whole situation to which I attribute to the statue of limitations having run out. Anyway as I sat and watched the man who, without a doubt was the biggest "rock star" in the history of cycling, admit to lying to everyone repeatedly, I couldn't help but remember the time I spent with him as he and his team won the Dodge Tour De Georgia event in 2005.
The event was a major undertaking. Spanning 600 miles across the state of Georgia with hundreds if not thousands of people coming out to witness his "greatness". I had been hired to produce interviews with Lance's team and to gather b-roll that would be used by the sponsor. The assignment was a week long and it would take me to areas in Georgia that I had never seen and truthfully would be just fine if I never see them again. It was March and the weather was weird. Some days it was cold and snowing others sunny and not a cloud in the sky. As I began my journey of chasing Lance Armstrong, I knew it would be an adventure. The company that hired me for the job had done other projects where he was involved and my colleagues always came back with some tale about him. It was always a split decision, some said he's as nice as can be while others flat out called him a a-hole. So I had no idea of what to expect.
As my camera man and I set out, one thing we knew is that it would be first rate. We got our schedule and our hotel at the start of the race in Augusta, GA, we were taken care of. When we arrived, we settled into a lovely hotel where we met with the client. They informed us that the first footage we would need to get would be of the press conference where Lance would be announcing his retirement from the sport. This was HUGE! He was at the top of his game and to think he would pick this event to make such an announcement had everyone buzzing. Well the client had the details of the press conference all mapped out. She had all the confirmed journalist (who had to have credentials) listed, she had a seating chart and she had an additional assignment for me. Seems she felt the conference may start a little slow or have some "downtime" and she asked me if I would be filler to ask question if indeed that did happen. I was cool with it, after all she was the client so I was willing to help her make this thing great. As the time neared for the conference to start, journalist from around the world started to arrive and all were speculating on rumors of his retirement. I found a seat and watched as everyone reviewed their questions for the cyclist. When Lance arrived to take his seat there was flurry of flashing lights and scrambling to get just the right shot of him. Talk about paparazzi crazy, this was it!!! Finally everyone settled down and Lance read his prepared statement. As he said the words retirement, the room erupted. People began texting, running from the room to get those words to their editors etc. After he finished his statement it was time for the Q&A.
Since our client was commanding the conference she would pick who would ask the question and also keep track of how much time each journalist had. Well after Lance spoke to reporters from AP, Reuters, Cycling News etc, the noise in the room settled but we still had more time. Our client immediately threw it to me and I was on the spot! To be honest, I did not give a rats ass about cycling. I had done a poor job of learning to ride a bike at 12 so I really did not understand what all the fuss was about but it was my job so I stood up and greeted Lance and his team mates with a smile. I addressed Lance directly and asked him, "Are you 100% sure this will be your last race, I mean you are a rock star and I can just imagine that the response to your retirement announcement could change your mind." (smile). Well, Lance did not like that question and wasted no time cutting me up. His facial expression changed and he looked me directly in the eye and said a bit annoyed, "Yes I'm sure. I love this sport but my time is up and there is absolutely no way I am doing another race. (I can even remember him rolling his eyes at me after I sat down, oh well.).
As the event got under way, my crew and I followed the cyclist to Peachtree City, Macon, Thomaston, Rome, Chattanooga, Tenn., Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Brasstown Bald Mountain, Dalton, Lake Lanier Islands, Stone Mountain Park, and Atlanta GA. The race covered over 600 miles in seven days. (http://www.tourdegeorgia.com/). Lance was at the top of the food chain. I watched as some cyclist would complete a leg of the tour and be exhausted. Cramps would send them limping away to their team doctors etc. Lance looked great. He would get off his bike and make his way to the media area and give comments no matter how long that leg had been, not matter how bad he smelled he was a professional who delivered. As the week progress, Lance seemed to mellow out on me. The first time I approached him to get a few words at the first stop, he looked at me like, "What is this broad gonna say now." But as the days went, he realized I was working for his team and soon, my requests were priority and he would just come over and tell me he was ready to give his comments. Cool, we had made it past the press conference BS.
Now before I go further let me just give you some background on just how crazy this tour was. Basically the fans were just nuts!! People (who were not getting paid or working the event) were following them to every stop. They were camped out at the hotels. Moms & Dads and their children were wearing Lance Armstrong t-shirts, hats and holding signs as they made it into each stop. It was mass hysteria every time someone "thought" Lance was heading their way. Some people so excited about him that some were even bold enough to jump into the race way to try to get a picture of him in action. Needless to say they were taken away by security and security was not playing, crazy, just crazy. Well as we made it to the final day of the stop, the fans were in a frenzy. This was Lance's "last" race and everyone, I mean everyone wanted a piece of this dude. At the final stop in Alpharetta, GA, we arrived and man, the crowd was barely being contained by the barriers or the police. Since this was the end of the race, it was ultra important that we got some last word from Lance. Well as he rode over the finish line and brought his team to victory, the crowd went wild. People began pushing and shoving trying to get his autograph, a picture, a lock of his hair, a drip of sweat ANYTHING Lance Armstrong. I was horrified watching parents running with small children trying to get close enough to smell him and there I was in the middle of all of this working!
As I stood at the walk way to his trailer, I braced myself for anything. Lance's security team had him very protected but just as in the previous days, I got close enough to get the comments I needed from him but just as we finished, a riot erupted. Women and screaming girls we not letting this dude just get on his bus without some memento to take away. Women became hostile with each other, with his security team and even the police. My camera man Blair saw the mayhem just as I did and demanded that we get the hell out of there. I agreed totally! We retreated to a BP gas station parking lot and got our footage from a safe distance. But just as we were leaving, wouldn't you know it, somebody got close. Lance erupted and screamed at everyone to just clear out, he needed to get to his bus. But just as with all fans who feel they are apart of a star's journey, they got pissed. A few even took to rocking his bus while others just stood their weeping and holding paraphernalia from the race.
Now that was years ago but as I sat and watched Lance tell Oprah the details of how he cheated and lied to millions of fans, sponsors and supporters, I couldn't help but feel sorry for them. They LOVED this dude and man what a let down. To think that a "god" might be actually living among us, who could do these amazing things on a bike, then to find out it was all a lie. What a let down!
