Lance's Book "It's Not About the Bike"

Hi, I am just wondering what any of you thought about this book. I am almost done reading it and I found it quite entertaining. I am also wondering about these books "Positively False: The Real Story of how I won the Tour de France" and "Lance Armstrong's War"

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"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place." -Lance Armstrong

I thought the book to be a great read and very inspirational. I havn't read the other two books you mention but would recomend reading Every second counts, which is the sequal to its not about the bike.

+1

/k

Every Second Counts is largely self serving bull****. It's a book written for PR purposes.

The parts of Landis' book that deal with the doping issue are crap, as expected. There other parts of the book are interesting.

Armstrong's War presents a much better picture of what Armstrong is like and it isn't pretty.

Walsh's last book From Lance to Landis offers a bit different take one what it really took to win the Tour de France, a lot better one than you will get from Armstrong or Landis.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

When I first read It's Not About the Bike, I loved it, and recommended it to some friends going through the cancer thing. Now, I'm considerably more jaded towards the rider, but that doesn't mean it's a bad book. Like BroDeal said, Armstrong's War is much better written from a journalistic point of view. Those Sally Jenkins books are strictly autobiographical PR pieces.

With all the mud that's been thrown on WADA and the various labs, it would be interesting if a balanced book came out discussing the inside politics and pressures that take place with respect to the various agencies and federations (WADA, UCI, ASO etc.).

While the upfront message of Lance's book is to be inspirational, there was a dark undercurrent of self-absorption and monomania between the lines. I admire his achievements (at least until he tests positive) but I would not recommend him as a role model without bringing up the caveats.

Sadly, this is true of many athletes involved in individual pursuits. Several runners and mountaineers come to mind.

Mark Twight, Maurice Herzog, and although he's not what I'd classify as a mountaineer, Beck Weathers, to name just three.