Lance Armstrong Biography: "It's Not About The Bike"
There have now been a few books written on the life of this man but in my opinion the Lance Armstrong Biography "It's Not About The Bike", is the most compelling of them all.
While you have probably heard something of the story of the world's most famous and successful cyclist Lance Armstrong, nothing will prepare you for what you will learn about this man's life and achievement.
It's most men's worst nightmare: You wake up one morning with your testicle swelled to the size of an orange and have no idea why or what to do about it. Lance not only overcame this but endured the proceeding months of pain and heartache and more to go on and win multiple tour de france races in succession to become the most accomplished cyclist in the history of the sport.
The book is written in a unique and personal style and as is the case with a good autobiography, you feel like the author is talking to you rather than writing words on a page.
In the course of the Lance Armstrong Biography documents everything from his early childhood, the absence of his biological father, his cycling career pre and post cancer and the psychological and mental changes that he made as a result of the experiences.
Every aspect of the book radiates his cool and wild yet highly disciplined and tough as nails attitude.
The most beneficial aspect of the book for me was experiencing first hand the way this man perceives life and the world. He spoke of how he would continually ignore all kinds of small injuries, coughs, colds, headaches, pain lie to himself about the existence so that he could keep riding to win a race, literally gritting his teeth through enormous levels of pain to achieve his desired outcome.
He talks about remembering his mom say when he was very young "You CAN'T quit!", and they are words that he lives by.
The same attitude applied when he first found out about his cancer. Before he knew of its severity, he said "Ok I'll do whatever it takes, just get it out of me!" and went on to said he would have had surgery there and then to have his testicle removed if he could.
The book details the experiences and accomplishments of what can only be called an exemplary individual. From the good times like becoming a cycling pro before the age of twenty, dominating competitors greatly his senior, to the perils of cancer, going through three months of the harshest chemotherapy available, to returning to cycling to fail miserably, to quitting vowing never to ride again, to winning the Tour not once but an astounding 3 times, to marrying his beautiful wife, to having his first child through IVF and much more.
The hardship this man has undergone and the level of pain he tolerates for FUN is an absolute mind opener and the level of success he has obtained across all areas of his life is inspirational.
Having read this book I know I personally will never be the same. Whenever I experience a challenge in my own life now, I find myself comparing the experience to testicular cancer and reacting to it in a MUCH different way!
The book is inspiring, motivating and entertaining at the same time. It's a short read, fluff free, written in a smooth and charismatic style with short chapters to keep the attention high.
For everyone who has ever wondered "How the hell did he do it?!", Lance Armstrong's biography "It's Not About The Bike", has the answers.There are currently no posts in this category.
