Jeff's ready to ride in Astana jersey
Funny story actually…
A little over a year ago I walked into a Wheel & Sprocket. They had an Astana jersey on their rack. I had no idea there was a team called Astana. What I recognized was the color and emblem of Kazakhstan along with the name of their capital city, Astana.
For years, Waukesha had a sister city in Kazakhstan just a few hours away from Astana. Actually most of the time during the sister city relationship the capital was still Almaty (aka Alma Ata), but then it was moved to Astana.
I had traveled to our sister city of Kokshetau (aka Kokchetav) on seven occassions in the 1990’s. I’ve got a friends there, great memories, a Kazakhstan flag and other national souvenirs, but I never made it to Astana.
When I saw the jersey I knew I had to get it. It was only later, when I mentioned it to another cycling friend of mine, that he told me about the team and that Lance Armstrong was part of it and that they hoped to participate in the Tour de France in 2009, etc.
Well, then I thought the jersey was even cooler! So of course throughout the race this summer I proudly wore the shirt. It drew a lot more nods, hellos, and conversation than I ever expected it would. In fact one time, early on, riding the Glacial Drumlin trail one of the DNR employees stopped me to see my trail pass and asked how my team was doing. I thought, “my team, what team?” while my mind raced. After a pause, that I hope wasn’t too noticeable, I realized he was referring to my jersey and therefore Astana. 🙂
Of course I think with all the time I’ve spent in Kazakhstan I could be an honorary member of the Astana team. Then it really would be my team.