Columnist Susan Snyder: Again, Lance is spokesman

Monday, Oct. 4, 2004 | 8:22 a.m.

The faithful flocked to the Las Vegas Strip at rush hour on a Friday afternoon.

There is no worse, more congested, more frustrating point in time to jockey for a spot on the Strip. But it was worth it to catch a glimpse of Lance Armstrong and his team of winners-against-all-odds pedaling a bicycle up the world-famous thoroughfare.

But a dozen or so Armstrong worshipers couldn't wait for the 5:30 p.m. rally at Treasure Island. They pedaled bicycles or drove to Jean on Friday afternoon and waited for Armstrong and the Tour of Hope to leave Interstate 15 and ride onto State Road 604, which is Las Vegas Boulevard.

Steve Ireland, a Henderson businessman and bicyclist, figured Jean was the best spot to take photos as a surprise for his wife Sylvia, who had to work.

"She's had cancer twice in the last four years," Ireland said. "The first time, I got her a poster of Lance. While she was in recovery, she looked at Lance. She thought, 'Look at what he did,' and that actually made a big difference to her."

The small group gathered at the rest stop 22 miles west of Las Vegas weren't disappointed.

"Thanks a lot for coming out," Armstrong said, walking his bike into the middle of the group.

He shook hands, signed whatever needed signing, posed for photos and waited for his Tour of Hope teammates, many of whom are cancer survivors like Armstrong.

They are pedaling from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in seven days to prove cancer can be beaten and to promote clinical trials. The Lance Armstrong Foundation also made a $500,000 donation to the Nevada Cancer Institute.

Armstrong, diagnosed with cancer in 1996, won his sixth consecutive Tour de France in July. The local bicycling community buzzed for weeks about his pending visit.

Two days before the tour's arrival, groups made plans to meet the team in Jean and ride with them into town. They pulled the route from the Internet and sent it out. Then someone read the fine print:

"Riders are not allowed to join the Tour of Hope Team on the ride."

Oops. Well, adding unknown riders is, after all, a recipe for crashes and road rash. A second e-mail sent Thursday discouraged the locals from joining in.

The lookers in Jean kept a polite distance as the tour's entourage of vehicles pulled into the rest stop to wait for the bicyclists. Armstrong, who isn't riding all the mileage every day, got out of an SUV and put on the rest of his gear.

To the amazement of those crowded at the curb, he then hopped on his bike and pedaled over. He'd left his race face at home, and his celebrity suited him about as well as an ill-fitting jersey.

"It's hot here," Armstrong said, taking a swig from his water bottle.

"So we've got this road out in Red Rock. It's called the Scenic Loop," a rider said, as if they were chatting over Gatorade outside a 7-Eleven.

"Yeah?" Armstrong said. "I'll have to get in shape first."

And he grinned. In the simplicity of such moments, survivors cheat cancer again and again.

"My wife's been clear for two years," Ireland said. "This year we got a tandem. And she's riding."