Edwards Joins Armstrong (Livestrong) for Ride
After sitting in the cloudless sun with his friends, hawking homemade pie and turkey sandwiches to passing cyclists Wednesday, John Ibeling missed Lance Armstrong’s blink-of-an-eye passing.
“Where is he?” asked Ibeling as Armstrong faded quickly into a mass of cyclists.
Of course, it took the seven-time Tour de France winner Armstrong all of a blink of an eye to traverse through Kesley, a northern Iowa town with a population that Ibeling says is “100—more or less” and that friend Andy Aalderks adds has “101 dogs.”
Ibeling, 78, and Aalderks, 72, were among a group of retired farmers sitting on lawn chairs along Front Street, representing Kesley’s unofficial greeting party for thousands of participants from across the nation taking part in the Des Moines Register’s annual bicycle tour of the state.
Watching the miles-long ribbon of cyclists entering town along the gently sloping, soybean-banked township highway, the five men would have been at home sitting in the “Wise Guy’s Corner” at Chicago’s Billy Goat Tavern.
Armstrong, along with Democratic presidential contender John Edwards, took the mid-week star turn in the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI (pronounced Rag{minute}-bray) for short.
RAGBRAI is an ecumenical and eclectic weeklong event. It features young and old, the serious and the not-so, expensive touring bikes and tandem bikes, those who can wear bicycle shorts and those who shouldn’t, a racing team from the close-cropped U.S. Air Force as well as other teams that travel the countryside in tie-dyed buses that would make the Partridge Family proud.
“This is the biggest thing that’s ever hit here,” Ibeling said as Aalderks pushed cyclists to stop and try the pie—until they ran out at 10:40 in the morning. Then they pushed the vanilla malts, bananas and turkey sandwiches to benefit the local church, the Amvets and the Kesley Businessmen’s Association.
“We’re so small, we had to put the three together to do it,” Aalderks said.
While Armstrong moved on, Kesley was the drop-off point for a sweaty helmet-haired Edwards, showing no signs of an expensive haircut, who said he rode about 10 miles on the route.
One woman went up to Edwards and asked for a picture with him, noting it was her birthday.
“I’m 40 today,” she told Edwards. “Cut the political” talk.
Another group of young women wearing black t-shirts posed with the presidential contender for a picture. On the front of their shirts was an outline of the state with the caption, “Not everything in Iowa is flat.”
Earlier, Armstrong said he had invited other candidates along for the ride, but none had taken him up except Edwards. Some family members of other candidates said they will join the tour, which ends this weekend.
Clad in a blue RAGBRAI jersey fit for a photo-op with Armstrong, Edwards turned to a group selling pork chops on a stick. He did a turn over the grill, joined later by wife Elizabeth.
When someone suggested the former North Carolina senator would look better with a beer in his hand, but then thought it might not look politically correct for the cameras, Edwards quickly corrected him.
“If any of these people don’t think I drink a beer every once in a while, they would be wrong,” Edwards said.
Edwards has been a consistent supporter of cancer-survivor Armstrong’s Livestrong foundation, an ever-present yellow rubber bracelet on his left wrist. With his wife’s cancer diagnosis, Edwards’ bond with Armstrong and his efforts have grown stronger.
“Lance is a friend of ours,” Edwards said. “We’ve known him for awhile and went down and spoke at the Livestrong foundation annual event and I’ve spent a fair amount of time with Lance.”
Edwards has sharply criticized the pharmaceutical industry for battling efforts for the universal health care system that he supports. But when asked by a Tribune reporter if he was being inconsistent since Armstrong has Bristol-Myers Squibb as a corporate sponsor, Edwards tried to ridicule the question.
“You’re really working hard on that one. That’s a stretch,” Edwards said with a laugh. “I know sure as I’m standing here, we try to put universal health care in place, we’re going to run into big drug companies, big insurance companies because they’re making too much money.
“Whoever they sponsor doesn’t change a thing about what I’m going to do as president,” he said.
As for the bike ride with Armstrong, Edwards acknowledged that the politician wasn’t setting the pace.
“I only kept up with Lance when he decided I should keep up with Lance,” Edwards said.
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