Well I think this sucks - Lance related
From this link http://www.kelownacapnews.com/
Tour with famed cyclist private
By Adrian Nieoczym
Staff reporter
Sep 21 2007
Lance Armstrong is coming to Kelowna on Saturday, but only donors with deep pockets will be allowed to see him.
He’s coming as part of the B.C. Cancer Foundation’s Tour of Courage to raise money for cancer research.
“It’s a private event. Donors have paid a lot of money to ride with him,” said the MLA for Kelowna-Mission, Sindi Hawkins, who is one of the key organizers responsible for bringing Armstrong to Kelowna.
“His public appearance is in Vancouver.”
The donors, who Hawkins refused to name, have pledged between $21,000 and $25,000 each to ride on a private bicycle tour with Armstrong and his celebrity guests.
“It will be a very nice day of riding through the orchards and vineyards of Kelowna,” said Hawkins.
The public event in Vancouver is on Sunday. There, anyone who pledges $1,000 will get to ride alongside Armstrong and his entourage.
So far between 350 and 400 people have signed up, said Hawkins, and there is still room for more.
While the public will have an opportunity to greet Armstrong in Vancouver and he will do media interviews there, the same is not true in Kelowna.
Even photographers will be limited to taking shots of Armstrong leading a peleton from the side of the road.
The 80-kilometre route in Kelowna is being kept a closely guarded secret.
However, it is known that the ride will start at 10 a.m. on Chute Lake Road on Kelowna Mountain.
Hawkins said getting Armstrong to Kelowna is a big coup.
“He could be anywhere in the world, but he chose to come here,” she said.
When Hawkins was battling leukemia 3 1/2 years ago, she found inspiration from Armstrong’s book, she said.
“I started thinking about living instead of dying.”
Armstrong beat cancer before becoming a seven-time Tour de France Champion.
Later on, “I started dreaming about, can I bring the biggest cancer advocate in the world to Kelowna,” said Hawkins.
And so Hawkins set to work getting Armstrong to stop in Kelowna for a fundraiser. It was last December when she got the good news he was coming.
“I’m still pinching myself,” she said. She added that almost $1 million will be raised for cancer research over this weekend.
“Hopefully people won’t be too disappointed,” she said about the lack of opportunity for Armstrong fans in Kelowna to greet their hero.
“For people who wanted to catch a glimpse of him in Kelowna, I say just wait, we hope to bring him back next year.”
Armstrong’s celebrity guests for Saturday’s ride include Phil Liggett, a cycling commentator who is known as the voice of the Tour de France, Discovery Cycling Team director Johan Bruyneel, who was the strategist behind Armstrong’s Tour de France victories, Armstrong’s personal coach Chris Carmichael, and past Winter Olympics gold medalist in snowboarding for Canada, Ross Rebagliati.
anieoczym@kelownacapnews.com
