Last week I received an email inviting me to the TREK Estero store which was hosting a special visitor, Jens Voight, the retired Tour de France rider.
I arrived a few minutes early and was able to talk to Jens before his talk.
Here are some of the highlights of his talk:
He has been riding since 9 yrs old
He was born in East Berlin
One of his best buddies is Bobby Julrich
He has six children ages 5-20 ( so much for infertility due to riding!)
His most famous quote..."Shut Up Legs"
He has had to make an adjustment from Superhuman ( Tour de France) to human ( riding 12 miles for coffee)
After the talk he was signing posters.
On Thursday I got up at 5 AM to be at the TREK Naples store for a 7:30 AM ride with Jens.
As we were waiting for daylight Jens entertained a few more questions. One was how he enjoys time with his kids. He told us a story of taking the boys fishing. In Germany when you fish with a lure you are only allowed one fishing pole per person in the water. Since his boys were with him he threw a second line in the water. The boys got bored and took off and he decided to throw the third line in the water. He ended up being caught and fined by the authorities for being a poacher. The first fine amount was 2,000 euros but he wrote a letter explaining the situation and the fine was reduced to 250 euros. Even famous people don't get out of fines....well not totally.
I asked him where is his career taking him now that he is retired. He is an ambassador for TREK and will be touring around the country, including Canada and California over the next few months. He will again be an announcer at the next Tour de France in 2016 . He also wrote a book due out in May entitled....you guessed it....Shut Up Legs.
On the ride....... riders were given the chance to ride one on one with Jens. There had to be over a hundred riders! I did manage to get my turn and reminded him that he said the night before that I was going to drop him. With his hand on my back and gently pushing me forward he asked the photographer to take a shot of me dropping him! He has such a good sense of humor. I think he chuckled as much as I did.
We were about six miles from the finish when a gal behind me crossed wheels and went down. I was stunned. Our club leader had a GoPro and caught the whole thing on video. It was definitely her fault but it didn't make me feel any better. Back at the TREK store at the end I saw her ride her pink TREK bike into the parking lot so I am glad that she was not too badly hurt.
Jens has changed my opinion of Tour de France riders. I put them in a box and thought they all had superegos and were full of themselves. Jens in anything but that. He is funny, approachable and just a nice 43 year old guy.
This was a chance of a lifetime that I will truly remember. Yet another reason to be living full time in Southwest Florida.
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