It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life
It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life Books
- ISBN13: 9780399146114
- Shape up: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
The inspiring journey of world-class hero Lance Armstrong, from the dark night of advanced cancer through his dramatic victory in the 1999 Tour de France, and beyond.
In 1996, twenty-four-year-ancient Lance Armstrong was ranked the number-one cyclist in the world. But that October, “The Golden Boy of American Cycling” was sidelined by excruciating pain. Tests exposed advanced testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain. His opportunity for recovery was as low as twenty percent.
Armstrong embarked on the most aggressive form of chemotherapy available and underwent surgery to remove cancer that the treatments couldn’t reach. Five months after his diagnosis, he resumed training below a cloud of uncertainty, and the path back to competition wasn’t smooth. It took a ride with friends through the mountains of North Carolina for Armstrong to rediscover his genuine like of the sport, and to rededicate himself to its pursuit.
Scarred physically and emotionally, Lance Armstrong considered his cancer “a unique wake-up call,” one that crystallized for him the blessings of excellent health, family, friends, and marriage. In October 1999, just months after his surprising triumph in the Tour, his wife, Kristin, gave birth to their son, Luke David Armstrong.
Filled with the nutritional, corporal, emotional, and spiritual details of his recovery, It’s Not About the Bike traces the wondrous journey of one of America’s greatest athletes to a singularly inspiring appreciation of life lived to the fullest.Amazon.com Review
People nearly the world have found inspiration in the tale of Lance Armstrong–a world-class athlete near struck down by cancer, only to recover and win the Tour de France, the multiday bicycle race well-known 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. Even as 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 surprising commitment to training that got him past countless hurdles, constancy 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 the world over 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
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It;s not about the bike is a typical, supposedly inspirational, typical “american dream” book. It is just another book written by a typical American for other typical americans.Yes sure to fight cancer and then win the most trying road race on earth is incredible, but not as incredible as this book makes it out to be. Lance Armstrong was privileged as a child – he had the opportunity to become what he became! People who do not have the opportunity (the money maybe) to pursue their talents and then to make an opportunity, and in the end, win, THAT’s inspirational! This book is about Lance Armstrong, and only about how fantastic Lance Armstrong is, period. It is dull and uninteresting – just another person’s life tale, except this one had talent and used it – yay! for him!
Sorry to be so cynical, americans should wake up out of their perfect small “american dream” world, and maybe read about something that describes what is really going on in this world, and maybe even something that is really inspiring!!!
Rating: 1 / 5
On a technical level, this book is an amateurish read despite the presence of a co-author.
In terms of content, I was embarassed for Lance most of the time. He knows just enough to know that a tale like his SHOULD be inspirational, but by recounting (even relishing in) petty achievements like owning an pricey car, driving it quick, and talking down to most of the people he encounters, gives away the fact that as a human being, he’s less than the sum of his accomplishments (which are limited to riding a bicycle).
I have a thousand times more respect for the majority of cancer victims who fight quietly and win or lose, manage to maintain their dignity in the end.
Rating: 1 / 5
This book chronicles bicyclist Lance Armstrong’s battle with cancer and his return to professional bicycle racing. Lance Armstrong is a 4-time winner of the Tour de France, spouse, father and most significantly a cancer survivor.
The book is very fascinating, but does include offensive language.
Rating: 2 / 5
Lance Armstrong’s book tells us of his inspiring journey back to life. He tells us of his strength of character and determination to live in a to some extent conceited way. His fight is certainly admirable. But, modesty is not the only thing gone in the book. Being a cancer patient and Tour de France winner is not an excuse for shoddy writing. I’m only seventeen and I found one grammar mistake after another throughout the book. “Criterium” is not a word that an English dictionary recognizes. Perhaps it is a cycling term that Armstrong did not find necessary to clarify for those of us who are not familiar with the jargon. Perhaps he meant “criterion.” But, either way, by not explaining it to us Armstrong indirectly meant his book to be read by ardent fans of cycling. Surely this isn’t the best marketing ploy to use?
Don’t get me incorrect, I reckon Armstrong is a truly fantastic man who has seen too many hardships in his life, even if he does come across as someone who’s head is so inflated that his treasured maillot jaune wouldn’t be able to get over his head. I know that his childhood was turbulent and he had to prove himself over and over again to the world. I admire his mother because I know that if I were in his situation, my mother would stand by me the same way. It couldn’t have been simple for her to raise him as a single mother in the midst of Southern-belle-comportment. His tale truly is “the stuff of legends,” as Independent pathetically puts it. I absolutely empathize with him. But, he isn’t the only person in the world to have gone through cancer and come out triumphant. Armstrong comes across as someone who looks at himself as God. Even his pseudo-modest moments come across as forced. As an objective critic who is analyzing the writing, and not the tale, I have to say that I’ve seen much better. His editor overlooked some major errors.
What also struck me was Lance’s garbage about his wife. Had I not known about his divorce, I would have believed him to be a absolutely devoted spouse and father. He gushes about Kristin and how she “is a stud” over and over in the book. Where did Sheryl come in, then? This bit of knowledge makes the book seem even more fake. It makes me wonder, were any of the sentiments he expressed right? Did he just make them up to seem like a victim who mustered the strength to ressurect himself from cancer? His battle is inspiring. But are all his sentiments right? Even if they aren’t, the fictitious sentiments, at least, are inspiring.
I remember my first plotting when I finished the book. “You disgust me.” And that still stands.
Rating: 2 / 5
People who can’t write a book on their own should not write one at all. Let’s just be frank about the writers of this book: A moron with a “Professional” novelist. This book is not even inspirational. It is a 200+ page self-loving, repetitive, and masturbatory look at an individual who is not incredible. So you can ride a bike and swim. Who gives a hoot? There is no spirit, no humility, and no substance to this book. Morons who buy into this guy’s tale are just perpetuating another generation of Americans more concerned about celebrity all-stars and professional athletes than their status as citizens of the greatest people on Earth.
I was forced to read this garbage as a summer reading book when I was in high school. It’s a fantastic thought to send to young developing minds: I am awesome because I have mutant lungs. Let’s forget about the fantastic American heroes like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and FDR. The fact that this crap gets published sickens me to the core. If you want to inspire people, give them an inspiring tale: perhaps one of a fantastic American like Washington, or one of Francis of Assisi, Marcus Tullius Cicero, or Churchill.
A biography of Stalin would be more inspirational than this.
Rating: 1 / 5