It's Not About The Bike - Lance Armstong

It's not about the bike is the story of Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong's battle with testicular cancer. Although I'm not a huge cycling fan (I'm more of a doer than a watcher) I know enough about Lance and have heard a bit about his battle with cancer. Like a lot of Texans (to his own admission) Lance is brash, noisy and full of himself. But them you wouldn't get to win the Tour seven times by being a shrinking violet would you? The book focused primarily on his childhood and youth and how he got involved in cycling, then moves on to his battle with cancer and finally ends with an account of his two (up to the time the book was written) Tour wins. Each ...  Read the complete review

Most people take life for granted, until something happens that makes them reassess the way they have been living. A major, life altering event can come at the most unexpected times and that's exactly what happened to Lance Armstrong when he got testicular cancer. In 1996 aged just 24, while he was aiming to be a cycling legend Lance was diagnosed with testicular cancer and his chances didn't look good. In fact he was given a 40% chance of survival, but he did everything he good to fight it and that's the reason he's still around to tell his story. I've recently taken an interest in reading autobiographies by sports personalities and Lance was high on the ...  Read the complete review

A brilliant, almost perfect, sports autobiography - Advantages: Fascinating, Inspirational, Enjoyable - Disadvantages: It's not about the bike!, Assumes zero knowledge of cycling

Although the front cover features Lance Armstrong holding a bike, the title is true and this book deserves to be (and is) read by a far wider audience than just cycling enthusiasts. People with no interest in cycling should not be put off in any way. First: what's the book about? It's Not About The Bike is basically Lance Armstrong's autobiography. It opens with his childhood in a single parent home where money was tight in one of the poorer suburbs of Austin, Texas. Although this may sound depressing it's all told in a positive light and Armstrong can't say enough good things about his mother. Some of his childhood ...  Read the complete review