Lance Edward Armstrong 

(born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is an American professional road

racing cyclist who is best known for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having

survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and

support. He rides for UCI ProTour team Team RadioShack.

In October 1996 he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, with a tumor that had metastasized to his brain and lungs.

His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was originally

poor. He went on to win the Tour de France each year from 1999 to 2005, and is the only person to win seven times, having

broken the previous record of five wins, shared by Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil.

In 1999, he was named the ABC Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. In 2000 he won the Prince of Asturias Award in

Sports.[4] In 2002,Sports Illustrated magazine named him Sportsman of the Year. He was also named Associated Press

Male Athlete of the Year for the years 2002–2005. He received ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete in 2003, 2004,

2005, and 2006, and won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award in 2003. Armstrong retired

from racing on July 24, 2005, at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but returned to competitive cycling in January 2009,

and finished third in the 2009 Tour de France.

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life is a 2000 autobiographical book by cyclist Lance Armstrong with Sally

Jenkins.

The book was written shortly after Armstrong had won the 1999 Tour de France: he went on to win it six further times in

successive years, establishing a record. In 1996, he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer, which spread to his lungs,

abdomen and brain, and was only given a 40 percent chance of living. This disrupted his career, but his success on his

return prompted elements in the media to accuse him of doping.

The book covers his story from childhood to the 1999 Tour, and the subsequent birth of his first child.[1] [2][3] A subsequent

autobiographical instalment, entitled Every Second Counts and also with Sally Jenkins as co-author, continues the

narrative until his 2003 Tour victory.

[edit] Awards

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award in 2000.[4] It was also

number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.[5] This book was also awarded the Christopher Award for Adult

Books in 2001.[6] It also appeared in the Texas Tayshas Reading Listfrom 2001 to 2002.[7]

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life is in the process of being made into a movie to be released in the next few

years.[ci

"After reading this book, (in which I stayed up until it was finished), I am just totally amazed at
Lance's guts, determination and strength in fighting testicular cancer, which should have,
according to the poor odds against him (less than 3%), killed him. Lance, instead of becoming a
victim, chose instead to be survivor! 

Here a story of inspiration that will bring tears to your eyes, tears of compassion, joy and
triumph. This is one man's story of incredible challenge of digging down deep for inner
resources in managing and conquering cancer. Lance refused to become a statistic and instead
rallied and became cancer's worst enemy. He refused to give in and chose to fight the disease
with all that he had. I admire his love and admiration for his mother, who continues to be one of
his strengths in his life. He was fortunate, as well, to have loving friends support him
throughout his entire ordeal. 

"The one thing the illness has convinced me of beyond all doubt - more than any experience
I've had as an athlete - is that we are much better than we know. We have unrealized capacities
that sometime only emerge in crisis. So, if there is a purpose to the suffering that is cancer, I
think it must be this: it's meant to improve us." 

The book chronicles the emotional and physical changes Lance undergoes as he triumphs over
cancer as well as his emotional coping both during and after. This is a book of true courage and
determination. Lance set up a foundation to help other cancer patients manage and survive their
cancer. Lance lives his mother's inspiration of "make every obstacle an opportunity." 

Lance proves that the power of the mind, combined with taking control of one's disease, seeking
different opinions and doctors, and becoming an expert on the topic can help one overcome and
conquer cancer. 

This is book is an excellent, poignant, and emotional testimony to one man's faith and
determination. Finishing this book, I have nothing but admiration for Lance Armstrong. Thanks
Lance for being an inspiration to everyone and with your work with cancer patients. The world
needs more role models like yourself! 

" 
Judith E. Pavluvcik, Resident Scholar 

"It's Not About The Bike is Lance Armstrong's autobiography detailing his life growing up in
Texas with a single mom, a bike and a passion for riding. He overcomes many hardships to
become a famous world-class athlete only to face the possible loss of it all to brain and
testicular cancer. 

He survives the surgery and endures grueling chemotherapy and cancer fighting protocols. Only
through his will to live and fierce determination to race again does he overcome cancer and the
psychological ravages of the disease. 

" 
David Fletcher, Resident Scholar 
"Lance Armstrong, one of the world's most famous cyclists, shares the story of his life, his
battle with cancer, and his amazing victory over it. Lance wanted to be a cyclist racer since he
was a kid growing up in the suburbs of Austen, Texas. His road to success was a difficult one,
but hard work, perseverance, and lots of training helped him to achieve his dream. He had
become one of the best and then, at the age of 25 and on top of the world, he was hit with the
diagnosis: testicular cancer. 

At first, like most healthy young men and especially athletes, Lance ignored occasional
headaches and some other symptoms. When he began coughing up blood, he knew something
was wrong, so he turned for help. The first doctor Lance called was a friend; he thought it was a
sinus condition, so Lance did not get a serious warning he needed and undertook no treatment.
He was getting worse, so the friend referred him to a specialist, and after many tests the true
diagnosis was given. Things did not look good. The cancer had spread and reached the lungs
and the brain. Lance was told that the treatment would require a brain surgery, and that he had a
40% chance of survival. (Later on, when Lance was cancer-free, the doctors admitted that they
had lied to him: his real chance was only 3%). 

It looked like his cycling career was over for good, and the only thing left to do was to take pain
killers and try to enjoy whatever time he's got left, but Lance was determined to fight for his life
and for his passion of a cyclist. He overcame fears and despairs and went through the
treatments. His progress is described in the book. Lance had fully recovered, and not only that
he went back to cycling. Two years after his recovery, he won the Tour de France race." 
Laura Southcombe, Resident Scholar 

It's Not About the Easy Path

Reviewed by Janice A. Farringer

Revealing too much about a reviewer is a no no in the book review biz. I'm supposed
to tell you what I think and sign off, leaving you to decide whether I am accurate or
fair. Well, in this case, I am breaking character. I have cancer and you need to know
that because Lance Armstrong had cancer, too, and this is a review of his book about
his treatments and triumph over this disease. In other words, you need to know I have
the T-shirt, been there, doing that.

Lance Armstrong, for those of you who may not know, is a two time Tour De France
winner, post cancer, as well as a new Dad and Olympian. He grew up in Texas and
trains there and in Europe, a world-class athlete. At 25, already an elite international
bike racer, he was diagnosed with a virulent form of testicular cancer that spread to
other parts of his body, including his brain, before it was stopped. He was young,
strong, an athlete, single, well-off from his racing revenues and he faced a very poor
prognosis. What is at least an inspiring story, is at its best a true portrayal of what
cancer patients young and old face everyday. Some are not so fortunate with their
outcomes, but It's Not About the Bike honestly reveals the side of cancer that most
relatives and well-wishers never see: that treatment is truly awful, that patients are
heroes, oncology units are places of very human emotion and that sometimes your
best one liners pop out when your stomach is roiling and your hair is gone.

On the day of my second surgery, I knew what I was facing. I clutched Lance's book
until the last moment before anesthesia when the pre-op nurse respectfully took my
glasses and laid the book on the chair by the curtain. I had read and read in the days
before and I was comforted. I was going where Lance had gone, I wanted an honest
portrayal of the difficulties. I didn't want it sugar coated. He doesn't.

The moment that someone tells you this kind of bad news is profoundly confusing.
The shock is immediate and the reaction can be to say: Let's get on with it. Let's get
this thing cured and done and go on to the next thing. I don't have time for this. The
reality is very different and the beauty and honesty of It's Not About the Bike is that
Armstrong tells the entire story, not just the triumphant ending. He takes you through
the surgeries, the seemingly endless days of profound chemotherapy induced illness
and the rehabilitation. Armstrong guts it out on the pages of his book. You can feel his
will. This same will is most certainly what has made him a world class athlete, but
applied to cancer, it will inspire even those with no athletic ambitions.

The beginning of the book is filled out with Lance's recollections of his formative
years, his indomitable single mother's unstinting efforts to improve their lot as well as
Armstrong's early days of racing. We meet his agents, his international cast of friends
and colleagues. Armstrong even offers some tantalizing hints at the fierce chess-like
moves required of riders and agents in the heady echelons of world class racing. For
those who don't follow the sport closely, this peek behind the scenes of international
bike racing is enough. The main event in this book is the fight for life.

The most telling chapters are about chemotherapy. In these chapters, Armstrong lays
it out for the uninitiated. He pretends no heroics, he tells it exactly as a patient sees it.
The cure is horrific, make no mistake. But there is heroism in the telling. There is a
wonderfully drawn portrait of his oncology nurse, LaTrice Haney. Lance banters and
jokes with her when he can talk at all, he tells her about his bike and she allows him to
be human in the midst of his pain. Hers is the best kind of nursing. We meet Jim
Ochowicz, Lance's friend who tirelessly tries to distract him during the chemo
marathons in the hospital. Heroes abound in this book. If we need to be taught about
friendship and compassion, these are the teaching chapters.
Then there is life. In Armstrong's case, his cancer was gone after a year. He could start
to rebuild and recondition himself for the road ahead. He attacks the project with the
style of the athlete he is. He suffers the post-cancer existential survivor questions and
rides through them. He begins a new relationship, falls in love with Kik, his future
wife and acts like a guy again. In the pursuit of normalcy he is also one of us. The
wedding, the longed for baby and the triumphs follow, but Lance Armstrong will
never forget where he has been.

I will always carry the lesson of cancer with me and feel that I'm a member of the
cancer community. Anyone who has heard the words You have cancer and thought,
'Oh my God, I'm going to die,' is a member of it. If you've ever belonged, you never
leave.

It's Not About the Bike is non-fiction and not for everyone. If you have an interest in
the spirit and resiliency of the human mind, read it. You will learn something. If you
have a friend or a loved one who is touched by cancer, read it. There is comfort here
and hope. If you have cancer, read it. It will give you a light for your heart.
| November 2000

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE - MY JOURNEY BACK TO LIFE by Lance

Armstrong with Sally Jenkins (G.P.Putnam's Sons, 275 pages, $24.95) is one of the
most remarkable books about sports and life that has come along in a long while.

This book will move you.

It begins with these words: "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 seventy-five miles per hour. I want to cross one last finish line
as my stud wife and ten children applaud, and then I want to lie down in a field of
those famous French sunflowers and gracefully expire: the perfect contradiction to my
once anticipated poignant early demise."

Lance Armstrong by his senior year in high school was already a professional
triathlete and was training with the U.S. Olympic cycling developmental team. And as
most sports fans know, Lance Armstrong was the number one cyclist in the world in
1996, when excruciating pain put him down.
It was determined that he had testicular cancer and that it had spread to his lungs and
brain. There were doctors who predicted his chances of survival as being very slim.

By taking the most aggressive kind of chemotherapy and submitting to three major
surgeries to get at tumors, Armstrong by 1997 was declared cancer-free. In 1999, the
racer many called "The Golden Boy of American Cycling" astonished the world by
winning the Tour de France and setting a new record for speed. What he did ranks
among the greatest comebacks in the history of sports. But it was more than that.

As Armstrong writes: "Illness is universal - we've all been sick, no one is immune.
Winning the Tour was a symbolic act, proof that you can not only survive cancer but
thrive after it."

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE is movingly written, with inspirational accounts of
coping, conquering and prevailing against all odds. There are insights here into the
world of a top-flight cyclist, but more important than those are the insights into a man
who was scarred physically and emotionally and came to view his cancer as a "special
wake-up call".

The book is truly as its sub-title declares - about Lance Armstrong's journey back to
life. In all, this is a remarkable memoir filled with the kind of macho voice one would
expect from a lanky kid from Plano, Texas who was raised by a tough single parent.
Lance's voice and thoughts come through loud and clear. This is the best biography of
a cyclist I've ever read. It belongs in a special place on your bookshelf.

Bookends: THEY EARNED THEIR STRIPES (Sports Publishing, Inc, 176 pages,
$29.95) is a loving and lavish look at the Detroit Tigers from the pages of the "Detroit
News". For nearly a century, 1,300 players have worn the distinctive emblem of the
Tigers. This book celebrates a lot of them and many of the franchise's marvelous
moments through the decades.
#  #  #

You can reach Harvey Frommer at:   

Email:  harvey.frommer@Dartmouth.EDU 

About the Author: 

Harvey Frommer is in his 34th consecutive year of writing sports books. A noted
oral historian and sports journalist, the author of 40 sports books including the
classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime
Baseball," his acclaimed REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an
oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in
2008 as well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime
Baseball." Frommer's newest work CELEBRATING FENWAY PARK: AN ORAL
AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOME OF RED SOX NATION is next.

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and
autographed.

FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is

housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~frommer.

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life is a 2000 autobiographical book by cyclist Lance Armstrong with Sally

Jenkins.

The book was written shortly after Armstrong had won the 1999 Tour de France: he went on to win it six further times in

successive years, establishing a record. In 1996, he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer, which spread to his lungs,

abdomen and brain, and was only given a 40 percent chance of living. This disrupted his career, but his success on his

return prompted elements in the media to accuse him of doping.

The book covers his story from childhood to the 1999 Tour, and the subsequent birth of his first child.[1] [2][3] A subsequent

autobiographical instalment, entitled Every Second Counts and also with Sally Jenkins as co-author, continues the narrative

until his 2003 Tour victory.

[edit]Awards

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award in 2000.[4] It was also

number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.[5] This book was also awarded the Christopher Award for Adult Books in

2001.[6] It also appeared in the Texas Tayshas Reading Listfrom 2001 to 2002.[7]

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life is in the process of being made into a movie to be released in the next few

years.[citation needed]

The basic story here is awfully familiar : healthy, cocky, young

athlete is stricken with cancer and faces a fight for his life.  But
what's truly remarkable is how differently the story ends than those
we've become used to over the years.  Just thirty years ago,
in Brian's Song, the story revolved around the courage and grace
with which Brian Piccolo, a 26 year old football player for the
Chicago Bears, struggled against certain doom, and how he touched
the lives of those around him.  Today, not only did Lance Armstrong
survive testicular cancer--the same cancer that killed Piccolo--he
was actually able to return to championship bike racing and win
that Tour de France thing. Nor is this a rarity, there are numerous
other pro athletes who have survived cancer and returned to
compete at a level at least equal to where they were prior to their
illness.  In fact, it is almost tempting to become blasé about such
stories.
So the great service that Armstrong provides here is to detail just
how frightening it still is to face such a disease, no matter the
survival rate.  In particular, the rather gory detail he goes into
about the manifestations of the cancer, and the treatment process,
serves as a helpful reminder of the psychological, as well as
physical, costs that survivors pay even as they return to health. 
Modern medicine is capable of some amazing things, but it still
requires a healthy dose of the human spirit to overcome illness. 
Lance Armstrong is nothing if not spirited.
The book may not turn you into a cycling fan--it didn't me.  But it
will more than likely get you to root for Lance Armstrong, and the
other brave folks who have fought back, successfully, against
cancer.