Seven time Tour de France winner, cycling great and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong gave a South Shore teen who lost his Pyramid Circle home in last month’s devastating Angora fire a big boost of recovery — an autographed bike donated by Big Daddy’s of Carson Valley.

Garrett Singer lost his bike in the fire that claimed 254 homes. He wants to ride his new bike in Saturday’s Death Ride in Alpine County. The annual Saturday event is a bicycle ride with a 15,000-plus foot elevation gain over five passes. Garrett plans to do two of the passes on Saturday.

“This has been the first mile and real joy I’ve seen from him since the fire,” said Pam Singer, Garrett’s mother. The teary-eyed mother recalled how Garrett dedicated his fifth grade class project to Lance Armstrong and created a mosaic in the project. The mosaic burned in the fire.

The 27th Tour of the California Alps Death Ride will start Saturday at approximately 5:30 a.m.

The ride, which can cover up to five mountain passes, 129 miles and more than 15,000 feet of climbing, starts and ends at Turtle Rock Park in Markleeville. Riders have the option of completing one to five passes. Five-pass finishers receive a special jersey and pin.

Registration has long been closed for the event as 2,800 riders were randomly selected in early March.

Highway 89 over Monitor Pass from the junction of Highway 395 to the junction of State Route 89/4 will be closed to all traffic from 5 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Highway 4 over Ebbett’s Pass will be closed to all traffic from 5:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Death Ride Expo, which feature a number of vendor booths, is scheduled for today and Saturday. The American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline will run through Sunday and is being aired on NBC and ESPN2. Tickets to watch the golf event are available at the gate.