LIVESTRONG Headquarters is a Pretty Cool Place

In my haste to write about the big donation to LIVESTRONG I had forgotten the pictures I took of the LIVESTRONG HQ.

Walking in, we were greeted by a newspaper box filled with LIVESTRONG bands.

With the impending death of the newspaper industry, it’s good to see someone putting one of these relics to use.  No idea what landfill the other 6 million will end up in.

This is the custom bike that was made to commemorate one of Lance’s wins in the Tour de France.  The bike’s tires have spokes to make it look more like a “bicycle” as opposed to a chopper. And, the gas tank is modeled after Lance’s time trial helmet.  Chris, our unofficial tour guide, told me the bike was plenty sturdy and encouraged me to hop on.  I couldn’t bring myself to, just in case I found a way to dump an otherwise sturdy bike.  Probably wouldn’t make a good impression on my first visit.

Here’s a pic of Chris showing us a piece of art they had commemorated for Lance’s 7th TDF win.  It’s a bunch of frames that spin and looked pretty damn cool if you’re a cycling fan.

On this piece of art, Chris walked through the stickers they put on Lance’s bike frame each morning, something of a surprise to Lance.  They each told a story.  Can you decipher this one?

I’ll help you out.  Lance came from a poor family pic of trailer home) in Texas (duh), he got cancer (crab zodiac sign), went through treatment (nuclear fallout sign), almost died (another duh) and ended up in Paris.

This next one was one of my favorites.  They are assembling a wall of 400 tiles, all commemorating people who are living with or died from cancer.  It’s meant to be a permanent part of the office.

The next pic is a shot of their mission statement, a list of core values laid bare in large letters on a wall virtually everyone can see from most of the office.

My favorite is “We dare to hope and act on it.”  Which one is yours?

Some of the people we met there have painful stories to share, either personal experiences or lost loved ones.  They shared these stories, not proudly per se, but unabashedly.  There’s no mistaking the people I met are committed to these values.

The last pic is a fun one.  Local art on the back of the building, STRONG style.