2004 Tour of Hope

The 2nd annual Tour of Hope ride arrived in the DC area on October 9th.

Read the entire ride report and enjoy these pictures from the DC Ride portion of the event.

Volunteers wait anxiously at the regrouping point in the
parking lot of the Irish Inn in Glen Echo not knowing what
awaits them just a few minutes up the road...


A TV crew ready to beam pictures back down to
the final destination on the Ellipse


Here come the riders. This doesn't seem too bad...


OK, so the crowd is starting to grow a bit...


Volunteers scramble to hand out Gatorade and PowerBars.


It's official - this a a mob scene. You really had
to be there as the pictures don't do it justice...


Members of the USPS Pro Cycling Team sign autographs


Everyone knows when you have big celebrities on
hand, you've got to have hired muscle to watch over them...


Members of the 2003 Tour of Hope cross country team
returning to ride in the 2004 DC event.


A genuine race marshall and his spiffy scooter.


The pack is regrouped and ready for the final
8 mile stretch down to the Ellipse in DC.


Not the kind of road marshall you'd expect to
see restarting a high profile bicycle event...


The pack heads out.


Well, someone has to be the last rider out...


The main Tour of Hope stage on the Ellipse and one
of the two big screens. This picture shows a live
shot of the cross coutry riders only a few blocks away.


A picture of the rope line where the cross country
riders will arrive on the Ellipse. Natuarally this picture
was taken about 5 seconds before they came through...


Cancer survivor and 6 time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong
talks to the crowd about the extraordinary journey the Tour of Hope
riders just completed.


Yes, Lance is larger than life...