Lucky number seven

I'm not really into celebrity worship. I live in L.A.; everybody knows somebody who knows somebody, myself included. But being in Paris on the final day of Lance Armstrong's final race, which happens to be his record-setting seventh consecutive Tour de France victory was too cool for me to pass up.

Once the riders get into Paris, they loop around the Quais on the Seine, and ride the entire length of Rue Rivoli, which for Paris, is quite a long street. It also happens to be a block and a half from me. So at around 5:00, I moseyed on down to the North end of Jardin de Tuileries and set myself up among the crowds of French, who really don't have an American-style respect for personal space. Nevertheless, it was all worth it when the tour riders went by. For a few brief seconds, I came face to face, tete a tete, with some of the best athletes in the world. I took a few pictures too - in the one on this blog, look for the red arrow; it's pointing to Lance.

Speaking of some of the world's best athletes, best wishes go out to my Trojan comrades who are and will be competing in the Worlds in Montreal this week. Congratulations to Blythe Hartley on her World Championship on the one-meter springboard.