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From Amazon
People around the world have found inspiration in the story of Lance Armstrong--a world-class athlete nearly struck down by cancer, only to recover and win the Tour de France, the multiday bicycle race famous for its grueling intensity. Armstrong is a thoroughgoing Texan jock, and the changes brought to his life by his illness are startling and powerful, but he's just not interested in wearing a hero suit. While his vocabulary is a bit on the he-man side (highest compliment to his wife: "she's a stud"), his actions will melt the most hard-bitten souls: a cancer foundation and benefit bike ride, his astonishing commitment to training that got him past countless hurdles, loyalty to the people and corporations that never gave up on him. There's serious medical detail here, which may not be for the faint of heart; from chemo to surgical procedures to his wife's in vitro fertilization, you won't be spared a single x-ray, IV drip, or unfortunate side effect. Athletes and coaches everywhere will benefit from the same extraordinary detail provided about his training sessions--every aching tendon, every rainy afternoon, and every small triumph during his long recovery is here in living color. It's Not About the Bike is the perfect title for this book about life, death, illness, family, setbacks, and triumphs, but not especially about the bike. --Jill Lightner
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From 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 fatherAand 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." Agent, Esther Newberg. First serial to Vanity Fair; BOMC main selection; foreign rights sold in the U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Holland and Japan. (May 22)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
I want to die at a hundred years old with an American flag on my back and the star of Texas on my helmet, after screaming down an Alpine descent on a bicycle at 75 miles per hour. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I want to die at a hundred years old with an American flag on my back and the star of Texas on my helmet, after screaming down an Alpine descent on a bicycle at 75 miles per hour. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
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This review is from: It's Not about the Bike: My Journey Back to Life (Hardcover)
Having never really been interested in cycling I bought this book since I wanted to know about Lance's fight with testicular cancer which killed my best friend three years ago in his early 30s. I was not just positively surprised but literally stunned and finished the book in two days. Lance's life from his upbringing to early achievements, his fight with cancer to becoming the King of the Tour de France are written honestly and interestingly. Reading the book took me along the entire emotional spectrum and I enjoyed every minute of it. With a less than 3% chance to survive I am convinced that contrary to the title, his survival is about the bike. It tought him to fight, to personalize the challenge and to give it everything he has got. Being German, I wanted Jan Ullrich to win the tour this year but having read what Lance has overcome and seeing him on the crucial day after falling due to spectator involvement, I now hope that he will win his sixth (and final?) Tour in 2004 to take his rightful place as the best rider who ever lived. I felt compelled to write this review since I read some of the other reviews. While I understand some of the comments about him being egoistic, that is part of him too. He is not claiming to be perfect, far from it, and I do not judge the man but simply recommend his book as an uplifting and interesting read.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's not about the bike: It is about the being the best!,
By Jenny H. "Jenny H." (S.C., USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life (Paperback)
I am a beginner runner. I picked up this book because I wanted to know more about Lance Armstrong. This book has taught me how much mental and physical training are required to be the best, consistently. I have enjoyed reading this book because of the humor, the clear and direct expression of ideas, and Lance's candor in his failures and triumphs. I am sure I will pick it up and read it again periodically.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Emotional,
By A Customer
This review is from: It's Not about the Bike: My Journey Back to Life (Hardcover)
"My Journey Back" is an uplifting/inspirational book that makes you feel the worry,the sadness,the fear and the triumph!! I could not put this book down until it was finished. I rank it up there with other books such as Nightmares Echo,Dry,Lucky,A Child Called It and Running With Scissors-each book is a very courageous read.
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