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Lance, Colleen, Jimmy, and Gila Monsters
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Colleen Whealdon-Haught, 30, of Tucson, AZ has raised over $30K for the Lance Armstrong Foundation while battling breast cancer.
In early May, my team SpecializedD4W/Bicycle Haus raced at the Tour of the Gila. There were hills. It was fun. Lance was there. Good times. How’s that for a race report? My brevity is not due to lack of material. In a five day stage race of attrition, I could go on and on about a number of things. My decent time trial, my mediocre Mogollon climb, my nowhere-near-decent Inner Loop stage where I contemplated self-disembowelment numerous times, or my pack-finish criterium. Two years ago I couldn’t even spell criterium, much less not get dropped from one, so yeah, there are stories and details I could tell about the 2009 Gila. But only one story stands out to me, and it had nothing to do with the race. No, I take that back. It had everything to do with the race. Just nothing to do with cycling.
My friend, competitor, and Cat 2 cyclist, Colleen Whealdon-Haught, 30, was at the 2009 Tour of the Gila, cheering on the field at Turn Three of the infamous criterium. Colleen didn’t race this year. Chemo can really wear out a body. For the second time in her life, Colleen is fighting breast cancer. A damn aggressive one, which has decided to mess with some of her other body parts this time around. But cancer should know better than to pick on cyclists. Colleen is fighting tumors the same way she races; smart, patient, strong, and with an inner aggression that is both vicious and quiet. Colleen and her husband, George Varhola, drove three hours from their home in Tucson, AZ to Silver City, NM not just to take in the Gila, but to chat with one of its participants. Lance Armstrong.
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Lance, Colleen and her husband George Varhola hang out with Armstrong in his trailer at Tour of the Gila
The Tucson community of cyclists runs deep in its kindness and connections. Our peloton of local, competitive bike racers incorporates a wide array of off-the-bike personalities. We have roughly one degree of separation from anything we might need in life; lawyer, doctor, realtor, dentist, unemployed writer. Need emergency contact lenses? Call Nicette. Guitar lessons? Email Adrian. Someone to scrape the debris out of today’s road rash? Kipp’s your guy. (He’s a veterinarian, but he’s damn good with large animals). For specific needs, there are specific people. And then there’s Jimmy Riccitello, whose specificity is largely unclassifiable but fits well under the umbrella of General Awesomeness. Let’s say you raise $30,000 for cancer research while fighting the disease yourself, for example. Who do you call to tell of this feat? Well, if you’re Colleen, you call no one. She is too modest to boast of her accomplishment. Eventually, the news made its way around the Tucson peloton and when Jimmy caught wind of it, he made a phone call to a buddy of his.
Jimmy Riccitello has a long history in cycling and triathlon, the latter of which he was a seasoned and very accomplished pro throughout the 1990’s. He now coaches cyclists and triathletes, as well as referees for Ironman events. Jimmy’s been friends with Lance Armstrong for years. Upon hearing of Colleen’s accomplishments and fundraising for the Livestrong Foundation, Jimmy put in a call to Lance and set up a meeting for Lance and Colleen at Tour of the Gila.
Hours after a tough round of chemo treatment on May 2nd, Colleen and her husband, George, found themselves sitting in Lance’s trailer just off the Gila criterium course. When I asked Colleen what she talked about during their half-hour visit, she just grinned and said “I really don’t remember!” while George showed me the numerous photos of a smiling Colleen. A couple days later, back in Tucson, Colleen regained her starstruck memory and told me stories of Lance’s laidbackness and typical directness.
“I was so nervous,” Colleen laughed, “That I told him the same story about my fundraising, twice. Lance smiled and said ‘You already told me that.’ It was pretty funny.’”
Funny is good. Funny is necessary. Funny should always be cherished. In the middle of a stage race like Tour of the Gila, there’s not a lot of funny. Fighting cancer certainly lacks all things funny. So when a guys like Jimmy Riccitello (who happens to be very funny) and Lance Armstrong (who probably has a wicked funny streak), do something like this for a woman like Colleen, I’d just like to say thank you for reminding us all about perspective, perseverance, community, and the importance of funny.
Want to help Colleen raise money, or even better, bike alongside her at Ride for the Roses in Austin, TX on October 19th? Check out her site:
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=294758&lis=1&kntae294758=53A692CBD9F44982B82EC5CD4CD5B440&supId=251164790
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