The Bike

"To help give Lance Armstrong an extra boost across the finish line in this year's Tour de France, Damien Hirst customized a Trek Madone with a gorgeous array of real butterflies from the frame down to the Bontrager rims, which also bear a repeating pattern of the willowy creatures. Eschewing the traditional LIVESTRONG yellow in favor of bright shocking pink logos all around, Hirst brings even more attention to the cause in a colorscheme that can be easily read at nearly any distance (or speed).

Says Hirst of the cycle:
"Lance is an inspiration to many people on many levels. Bono first approached me about the bike and described Lance to me as 'the greatest sportsman the world has ever known after Ali!' It was a great opportunity to work with someone I admire and create the bike — something I've never done before. The technical problems were immense, as I wanted to use real butterflies and not just pictures of butterflies, because I wanted it to shimmer when the light catches it like only real butterflies do, and we were trying not to add any extra weight to the bike. Doing something crazy like this is ultimately about transportation and not simply transport, and what Lance does when he rides it is the same thing. I think Lance loves it!""

[graphic and text from Trek website Cross-posted to Signal Fire.

Note that the Hirst Trek Armstrong collaboration has not been without controversy. The Friday edition of the Daily Mail featured a story, "Damien Hirst accused of 'horrific barbarity' over bicycle covered in dead butterfly wings" quoting spokesperson Sam Glover of PETA [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals] condemning the project.

Lance Armstrong rode the bike in the ceremonial final stage of the Tour de France that ended on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.].