Lance Armstrong ends trail ride bloody and in hospital

Texan takes blow to the head in off-road excursion in Aspen, Colo.

Canadian Cycling Magazine August 9, 2018

Lance Armstrong’s mountain bike ride took an unexpected turn on Wednesday, earning the Texan former Tour de France winner a trip to the hospital.

Armstrong was riding the Tom Blake trail in Aspen, Colo. when the aspiring podcaster crashed hard. The incident left him bloodied and, having hit his head, concerned about a possible concussion. A stop at the Aspen Valley Hospital came turned up no damage. Armstrong seems to have taken the fall in stride, saying “sometimes you’re the hammer and sometimes you’re the nail” in describing the fall on instagram.

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Well, sometimes you’re the hammer and sometimes you’re the nail! The Tom Blake trail (one of my faves) came up and tried to KO my ass today. Took quite the blow to the noggin’ so swung by the Aspen Valley Hospital (great facility!) to get my head checked. For the 46 yrs prior to today I completely would have blown off getting checked. Not now. Small world story – a few weeks back I posted a pic of @ghincapie, @mikekloser, and myself. Credit photo to “some dude at top of buttermilk”. Well, that ‘dude’ turned out to be @ajaxrider – the ER doc on duty today! Charlie, thanks for looking after me.

A post shared by Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) on Aug 8, 2018 at 1:27pm PDT

While best known for his exploits in road racing, Armstrong has long dabbled in mountain biking on the side. He was known to ride with George W. Bush during his fellow Texan’s presidency, and occasionally raced mountain bike events during breaks from road racing.

Most famously, Armstrong entered the Leadville 100, an endurance mountain bike race held in the Colorado town from which the race takes it’s name, in 2008 and 2009. Widely expected to easily win as the only former-Tour de France winner entered in the race, Armstrong lost to Dave Wiens in 2008. Armstrong returned the following year, and was able to end the local rider, Wiens’ Leadville 100 winning streak.