“It’s called Mellow Johnny’s” : Lance Armstrong Turned Ridicule Into a Prideful Cafe and Bike Shop

Lance Armstrong’s untold story about his cafe and bike shop

During the interview, Lance spoke about having a bike shop located before Austin downtown. “That bike shop’s called Mellow Johnny’s……It is hands down the coolest bike shop in the world”, he said. Continuing, Armstrong described that the shop was a big open space and the people working there were amazing. The professional cyclist also explained that naming the bike shop Mellow Johnny’s was a play on the words Mayo Jean. 

Telling the story behind his cafe’s name, Armstrong told that he liked to play and have fun with his diagnosis. Lance had been diagnosed with cancer and one of his testicles was removed to treat it which became a joke at a party. While playing a card game, he picked up a card that had the words ‘Lance Armstrong’s missing testicle’ which made the situation awkward for Lance. The words Juan Pelota mean ‘One Ball’ where ‘Juan’ means one and ‘Pelota’ means ball. Here, ‘One Ball’ refers to the one testicle removed. This shows how Lance turned the subject of his embarrassment into his strength. 

Armstrong also told an interesting incident related to his cafe’s name. “A long time ago, I would check in when I needed to check in and under a fake name. I would always check in under Juan Pelota”, Lance remarked. Continuing, he expressed this was why he borrowed the name Juan and opened a cafe named Juan Pelota.

Read More: “Will Do Anything I Need to Do to Survive”: Lance Armstrong Once Defined a Career-Changing Incident That Brought His Win-at-All-Costs Attitude

The cyclist also spoke about how the cafe was connected to the store. He also mentioned that he also had owned the bike shop Mellow Johnny’s for more than 10 years. 

Lance Armstrong’s strong reaction to his doping scandal in cycling 

During an interview, Armstrong said that he didn’t feel like a failure despite his doping scandal. When asked if he would do doping again, Armstrong said he wouldn’t do it in 2015. However, he said that if it were 1995, he’d do doping again.

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The cyclist’s fascinating story about his cafe reflects his mental strength. Though the world will not forget his doping scandal, people will always be inspired by his courage while facing ridicule.