7. My girlfriend (now wife) introduced me to the Tour de France and that opened up the world of road bike racing in general to me. I honestly had never heard of Lance Armstrong before that, and a road bike was a completely foreign concept. I think I had seen one in a bike shop once and took it for a test ride and thought it was funny.
Note that it was not Lance Armstrong that motivated me. If anything it was CSC and Cervelo. I really wanted a Soloist Team and was going to save up for one by "earning" a dollar for every mile I rode. After a about a month I said screw it and bought an Allez. It was half the price of the Cervelo and I figured I would rather have a road bike now. I also figured I wouldn't appreciate the Cervelo without putting my time in on a more basic bike first. I think there is a lesson in there for people on BF...
good story!
and judging by the sound of # 7 congrats on picking a winner
