It's Not About The Bike
My Journey Back to Life
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4.2 • 44 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
"I want to die at a hundred years old after screaming down an Alpine descent on a bicycle at 75 miles per hour. I don't do anything slow, not even breathe. I do everything at a fast cadence: eat fast, sleep fast." At twenty four, Lance Armstrong was already well on his way to becoming a sporting legend. Then, in October 1996, he was diagnosed with stage four testicular cancer. When lesions appeared on his brain and in his lungs, doctors gave him a 40% chance of survival. On that day Armstrong's life changed forever and in typical fashion he met the challenge head on - this was one fight he was determined not to lose. As he battled against the cancer invading his body and the chemotherapy that threatened to sap his soul, a tremendous sense of commitment emerged, to his training and to the people around him who never gave up on him. Just sixteen months after he was discharged from hospital, Armstrong entered the Tour de France, a race famed for its gruelling intensity, and won, in the fastest ever time. Just a few months after that, he became a father. It's Not About the Bike is the story of one man's inspirational battle against the odds, charting his progress through triumph, tragedy and transformation. This is an awe-inspiring tale of immense courage and will.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 1996, young cycling phenom Armstrong discovered he had testicular cancer. In 1999, he won the Tour de France. Now he's a grateful husband, a new father--and a memoirist: with pluck, humility and verve, this volume covers his early life, his rise through the endurance sport world and his medical difficulties. Cancer "was like being run off the road by a truck, and I've got the scars to prove it," Armstrong declares. Earlier scars, he explains, came from a stepfather he casts as unworthy; early rewards, from his hardworking mother and from the triathlons and national bike races Armstrong won as a Texas teen. "The real racing action was over in Europe": after covering that, Armstrong and Jenkins (Men Will Be Boys, with Pat Summit, etc.) ascend to the scarier challenges of diagnoses and surgeries. As he gets worse, then better, Armstrong describes the affections of his racing friends and of the professionals who cared for him. Armstrong is honest and delightful on his relationship to wife Kristin (Kik), and goes into surprising detail about the technology that let them have a child. The memoir concludes with Armstrong's French victory and the birth of their son. The book features a disarming and spotless prose style, one far above par for sports memoirs. Bicycle-racing fans will enjoy the troves of inside information and the accounts of competitions, but Armstrong has set his sights on a wider meaning and readership: "When I was sick I saw more beauty and triumph and truth in a single day than I ever did in a bike race."
Customer Reviews
Forget the controversy and read this
As someone going through cancer for the second time this is an amazing book and helping me really understand what in didn't the first time. The feelings and mindset are 100% accurate so if your going through this or know someone who is read it.
It's not about the bike
A genuine privilege to share in this honest,informative and truly beautiful story.
It makes you feel like a family friend and will Lance on in dire times. A must for anyone who has had the misfortune to encounter cancer in whatever manner. Lance Armstrong you are a true inspiration!
A superb book which everyone should read.
ps Cycle racing also holds a new light! it is honestly a sport I did not follow but it has an added dimension with expert literary tuition from a true master!
Thank you for sharing and genuine heartfelt wishes for the future.
Shameful
I burnt my paper copy. Save your time for reading something genuine instead. No star. Put one on just to get the review accepted!