Lance Armstrong '09

Legend, History, Speed; well there are millions of other ways to describe Lance Armstrong, the 7-time and soon to be 8-time Tour de France champion; Diagnosed with testicle cancer in 1996, came back to ride in 1999 and set record breaking championships till 2005.

"The cancer had already spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. The standard chemotherapeutic regimen for Armstrong's type of cancer is known as BEP (Bleomycin, Etoposide and Cisplatin (or Platinol)). Armstrong, however, chose to undergo an alternative regimen, VIP (vinblastine, ifosfamide and Cisplatin), in order to avoid the lung toxicity associated with the drug Bleomycin.[4] Armstrong underwent surgery on his brain tumors, which were found to be necrotic, and an orchiectomy to remove his diseased testicle."

I have started using 2 wheels since 1996, so Armstrong was like a symbol to me, both in life and the sports. His next series will mean a lot to beneficiaries of Livestrong and many other foundations sphere-headed by the great cyclist / cancer survivor. The ASTANA Team on TREK Bikes will be a power house, imagine having 1 2 time chamo, and another 7 time champ to lead the way on the same uniform, I only wish to see a good uphill battle with Ulrich once again...

Getting a tattoo?

A tattoo is a permanent marking made by inserting ink into the layers of skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons. Tattoos on humans are a type of decorative body modification, while tattoos on animals are most commonly used for identification or branding.

Tattooing has been practiced worldwide. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan, traditionally wore facial tattoos. Today one can find Berbers of Tamazgha and Maori of New Zealand with facial tattoos. Tattooing was widespread among Polynesian peoples and among certain tribal groups in the Philippines, Borneo, Mentawai Islands, Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, Japan, Cambodia, New Zealand and Micronesia. Despite some taboos surrounding tattooing, the art continues to be popular in many parts of the world.

In the 21st century, tattoos are considered more of a rebellious act or something expressive but either way they are cool. Like the picture above, the name is Kat Von D of L.A Ink, if you don't like tattoos, then you may not know her. She is one of the greatest tattoo artist in this generation, well that will depends on how gnarly some tattoo artist may get. Like the every crazy EYE-BALL tattoo, talk about crazy... this is beyond cool nor stupid, I kinda admire the courage of whoever will do this next, I mean c'mon, face tattoos are good enough, why go to a precious part of the body.

Planning to get a tattoo may be very time consuming, but I found 2 sites that helped me out. Tattoo Blog and Knuckle Tattoos are sites that shows varieties of tattoos, from exce-phuckin-llent to bull-dung looking tattoos. I may be going for a Devil with an angel's wings or the other way around. Well for the knuckles, I may go for my wife's or parents initials.