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It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life

lance armstrong sally jenkins

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It is such an all-American story. A lanky kid from Plano, Texas, is raised by a feisty, single parent who sacrifices for her son, who becomes one of our country's greatest athletes. Given that background, it is understandable why Armstrong was able to channel his boundless energy toward athletic endeavors. By his senior year in high school, he was already a professional triathlete and was training with the U.S. Olympic cycling developmental team. In 1993, Armstrong secured a position in the ranks of world-class cyclists by winning the World Championship and a Tour de France stage, but in 1996, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Armstrong entered an unknown battlefield and challenged it as if climbing through the Alps: aggressive yet tactical. He beat the cancer and proceeded to stun all the pundits by winning the 1999 Tour de France. In this memoir, Armstrong covers his early years swiftly with a blunt matter-of-factness, but the main focus is on his battle with cancer. Readers will respond to the inspirational recovery story, and they will appreciate the behind-the-scenes cycling information. After he won the Tour, his mother was quoted as saying that her son's whole life has been a fight against the odds; we see here that she was not exaggerating. Brenda Barrera

294 pages, Paperback

First published November 8,1999
Literary awards
audie award, william hill sports book of the year, 

This edition

Format
294 pages, Paperback
Published
September 1, 2001 by Berkley Trade
ISBN
9780425179611
ASIN
0425179613
Language
English

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About the author

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lance armstrong

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Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005, but was stripped of his titles after an investigation into doping allegations, called the Lance Armstrong doping case, found that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs over his career. As a result, Armstrong is currently banned for life from all sanctioned bicycling events.
At age 16, Armstrong began competing as a triathlete and was a national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990. In 1992, he began his career as a professional cyclist with the Motorola team. Armstrong had success between 1993 and 1996 with the World Championship in 1993, the Clásica de San Sebastián in 1995, Tour DuPont in 1995 and 1996, and a handful of stage victories in Europe, including stage 8 of the 1993 Tour de France and stage 18 of the 1995 Tour de France. In 1996, he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal metastatic testicular cancer. After recovering, Armstrong founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation (now the Livestrong Foundation) to assist other cancer survivors.
Returning to cycling in 1998, Armstrong was a member of the US Postal/Discovery team between 1998 and 2005 when he won his seven Tour de France titles. Armstrong retired from racing at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but returned to competitive cycling with the Astana team in January 2009, finishing third in the 2009 Tour de France later that year. Between 2010 and 2011, he raced with Team Radio Shack, and retired for a second time in 2011.
Armstrong became the subject of doping allegations after winning the 1999 Tour de France. For years, he denied involvement in doping. In 2012, a United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) investigation concluded that Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs over the course of his career and named him as the ringleader of "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen." While maintaining his innocence, Armstrong chose not to contest the charges, citing the potential toll on his family. He received a lifetime ban from all sports that follow the World Anti-Doping Code, ending Armstrong's competitive cycling career. The International Cycling Union (UCI) upheld USADA's decision and decided that his stripped wins would not be allocated to other riders. In January 2013, Armstrong publicly admitted his involvement in doping. In April 2018, Armstrong settled a civil lawsuit with the United States Department of Justice and agreed to pay US$5 million to the U.S. government after whistleblower proceedings were commenced by Floyd Landis, a former team member.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
30(30%)
4 stars
35(35%)
3 stars
35(35%)
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0(0%)
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100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Saiyamar
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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I gave this book 3 stars because, as someone who is interested in cycling, it gave some good insight into competitive racing including the Tour De France. His story is interesting, however it is hard to get past his level of hubris that seaps into the pages. I suppose writing about yourself and your achievements (which are quite spectacular) despite a cancerous death sentence would be difficult to communicate in a completely humble manner, but I felt at times like he was just trying too hard to show the reader that he is the best cyclist the world has ever seen. He offers some poignant writing on how cancer has changed him and it does seem believable in some sense. But knowing a bit about his family life, especially after the book was written, would cause me to believe that he really missed some of the most important lessons to be derived from a near-death experience.
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ChocolateDinosar
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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I bought this book for my sister who is currently undergoing chemotherapy, but I had to read it for myself first. I have to agree with a previous reviewer--for Lance, it IS about the bike, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It was really interesting to read about his experience with cancer and chemo and his recovery. I found myself wanting to read a sequel, find out what has happened in the 8 years since the book was published. (I know he now has twin daughters, divorced his wife, is no longer with Sheryl Crow, but what happened?! I love reading that stuff--isn't that horrible?)
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crystaldawwn
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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I really loved this book. Its probably not what most people consider great literature or anything, but I got a lot out of it. I personally connected with this book and I found its messages beautifully and powerfully simple. This book was spot on for me, and I would recommend it to others, but I think that this is the sort of book that each person will take a different meaning from, so If you read it and think what the heck rosie this is awful keep that in mind and dont go blaming me (k risakoooo :D)
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Faeverily
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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Great book - hard to not love Lance and reading about his fascinating early life and childhood growing up with a single mother before the Tour. I almost feel bad reading the lies related to doping throughout this work.

A part of me thinks it had to pain him every step of the way carrying a cycling career thats greatest successes were essentially built on a cheating scandal and successes that ultimately hinged on the use of EPO. He is still a Hell of a guy with/without the bike. Tough as nails.
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geearf
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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هیچ چیز هم که از این کتاب یاد نگیریم، امید را یاد می گیریم، اساسی.

و البته برای خود من جالب بود که دوچرخه سواری اینقدر سخت است!
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becbecface
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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Well, well !! What do you say to this now ?

I had read it when Lance Armstrong was still a respectable name, highly respectable indeed. The book brings across a man of determination and very strong will. That is where the 'review proper' of the book has to end and the question begins as to how the propensity of taking (calculated) risks is so pronounced in strong willed men. And how the moral view point at a given stage in life is in so much deviation from those held by others and the ones held by the same person at other stages of his/her life ?

To my mind, these are not properly integrated lives. Just that the gifts have been marshalled in a particular direction, but not the 'entire man'.

Interesting chap. Worth a thought. But the book has lost most of whatever value it had.

The lines of the Bard come to mind:

The fault dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

That basically puts the striving for greatness, the achievement and the current ignominy in perspective.
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u8sand
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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Its a beautifully written book. The book succeeds to manage you in a very interesting tale of perseverance, family love and enthusiasm. The book also explains in detail the strategies, science and politics that goes behind a simple looking sport. The reader tends to stick to the book to know the strong positivity towards his Armstrong's fight against cancer.

I read this book before he admitted charges. And all of a sudden a role model became an actor. The book that looked like a beautiful autobiography suddenly became a highly engaging fiction. But still his fight towards cancer looks inspiring.

Some of the quotes in the book are very beautiful especially from his treatment duration. All in all - a good mix of subtle comedy, strong passion and mother son love that weaves a comeback story that turns it into a book worth reading.
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Rayar
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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I love this story. So so inspirational and sincer!
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