Rick's Ride: 3,500 Kilometers. 23 Days.
The 2008 Tour de France.
PRESS COVERAGE
LeParisien.fr has interviewed Czelusta and posted this article, which is translated below, courtesy of Simone Barrilleaux.
Jesse and His Guardian Angels
EPISODE 3. Approaching Paris. It is a surprisingly successful challenge. After the time trial, Jesse wants to go the last mile "enjoying each pedal stroke.""The Tour has taught me that nothing is ever a foregone conclusion!" he says.
Upon his arrival, scheduled early this morning in the capital city, the young Californian hopes to go on the Champs-Elysees, close to the Arc de Triomphe. "I look forward to watching the celebration in Paris! CJ wants to see the Eiffel Tower. I plan to drink champagne, like all the other riders!"
"The sun rose just when I reached the summit; it was wonderful!"
A thousand times he considered quitting (see prior articles). His guardian angels were with him through the Pyrenees and the Alpe-d'Huez. Conquering those climbs was as much a physical feat as it was a labor of love, because this Tour is primarily a tribute to his friend Rick Shelton, who died in April at the age of 58.
For this mythical climb, the two brothers coordinated their reunion in the early morning, anticipating the closure of the road of the most popular stage of the Tour. The young Californian arrives smiling on his white bike. "The sun rose just when I reached the summit. I was alone in the world; it was wonderful!"
The brothers hug, holding their baggage, and cast a glance at the counter on the bike: the instrument displays more than 3500 km (2175 mi). "I am so happy to be here!" Jesse says, "The worst and the best are behind me."
In silence, the duo slips between two groups of cyclists, to the first hairpin. Jesse climbing, as if driven by a mystical force. His knee pain, which was severe during the day, seems to have been erased. His radiant smile did not leave. L'Alpe-d'Huez, its twenty-one turns and is 13.8 km (8.57 mi) in just ninety minutes... At the summit, he confides how much he was loved. "Rick always followed this stage very closely. There were many years where the Tour itself was more or less decided on Alpe-d'Huez."
"If Rick had made it here, I think this would have been one of the stages that we would have done together, with CJ and I." He also confided this previously well-guarded secret: In April, at Rick's funeral, "I asked his family if I could take some of his ashes on this trip. I've been carrying them with me since Brest..."
Before returning to Paris, Jesse and his brother have spread the ashes of their loved one somewhere in the Alpe-d'Huez. "It's a beautiful place and when the Tour's not here I think it's probably a peaceful place," he added, with a mix of nostalgia, memories, and joy. On the site dedicated to his adventure (www. ricksride.org), the young man describes his ascent of Alpe-d'Huez: "What to say when you have just ridden your bike to the finish line of a dream..."
