Armstrong Auctions Bikes For Charity

Lance Armstrong auctioned off seven of his Trek bikes at Southeby’s on the first day of November, one for each of his Tour de France wins. Six out of the seven bikes had been turned into works of art by Damien Hirst. Proceeds from the auction did, of course, go to benefit his LIFESTRONG Foundation.

One of the bikes has a more colorful past than the others, though: it was the bike stolen and then recovered during this year’s Tour of California. The bike, stolen by Lee Monroe Crider, was sold to Dung Hoang Le for $200. Le returned it to the police who then returned it to Armstrong.

Armstrong wrote a short essay to potential buyers in the closed auction:

“I’m not a gearhead, and my garage is anything but a cycling museum, but I can honestly say that letting go of my bikes has never been harder,” Armstrong explains. “From Damien Hirst’s masterpiece Tour de France ‘finale’ Trek Madone covered in real butterflies, to the KAWS ‘Chompers’ cycle that I broke my collarbone on in the Vuelta Castilla y Leon, every ride is a treasured piece of personal history that I’m proud to offer up to benefit LIVESTRONG.”

To read a little more on the auction, click on over to the velonation.com article.