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

Quite good. The compelling part of the book is to hear Lance tell how he overcame advanced-stage prostate cancer, with treatments that fully debilitated him. Only then did he come back to win the Tour de France for the first time! (And the only time in this book.) He is frank about the rougher sides of his personality, but does go beyond his illness to learn how to be a better person. You are cheering for him all the way. Although written with a ghost writer, it is his voice that comes through loudly and clearly. The book ends with him quite in love with his wife and first child, projecting a family life into the future. Sadly, as we know, it was not to be, nor did he stick it out with Sheryl Crow who had yet to appear in his story.

The story of Lance Armstong's life up until 2001 will be a challenge to put down for even those who are not fans of cycling. This story unfolds as an enthralling voyage taken alongside one of the greatest athletes in history from his very low points facing apparent death by brain cancer to the high points of full recovery and winning the Tour de France.

Lance is extremely strong willed, bold, determined, and presents a story for the ages with his first autobiography. His story is so compelling that I highly recommend this book to anyone.

This is a great book for his fears, fight, hope and established interest in cancer. It is an inspirational story for those with cancer as well as their friends, for information and support. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because it is a little bit about the bike, but it is an excellent book to give hope to those with cancer to be cured and survive.

Don't get me wrong, this book is GREAT. But reading it in 2008 will give you the feeling the end is missing in this book. No Sheryl Crow and no seven tour victories. This book covers Lance's dealings with cancer and his bike up until his second tour victory.

What I really admire about this book is the way it has been written. No subjects are pushed to the back and the man Armstrong really comes forward. His battle with testicular cancer has been known throughout the world, but when you read about it in great detail you can actually grasp his battle for the first time.

This book can be a great gift. Ever catch a person whining about something trivial? Then make him humble by reading this book.

Lance's book was an inspiration to read from the stand point of overcoming obstacles and also remembering to stay passionate about your work. In his book, Lance portrays himself as the quintessential underdog, fighting against great odds to become somebody important, a goal that would materialize in the form of winning the largest bicycle race in the world seven times -consecutively.

Lance seems to have the deck stacked against him with challenge after challenge in life. Each obstacle in itself seems like it'd be devastating to any normal person, but Lance tells how he used trials to build mental grit that would be required for the ultimate challenge -the Tour de France. He shows how he compartmentalized and attacked each problem using what he refers to as "a dumb focus", which is also the unique character trait that inevitably ushers Lance to the podium, stage after stage, and race after race.

As I read his book, I thought it should be called "Racing from behind", not only because Lance started from behind in life as he portrays, but also because that is how he likes it, -racing from behind. I really think Lance enjoys positioning himself behind the leaders, where the pressure is off, where he can observe, calculate, strategize and plan his swooping attack to the finish line. No matter what Lance is doing in life, he always has his mind focused on some sort of finish line; that's where the performance really counts. It's a philosophy that while very successful at leading to victories in the most popular bicycle race, probably isn't the best approach for life in general.

As enjoyable as it was to read about one of my personal heroes, it was sobering to realize that Lance is not as super human as I have made him out to be in my own mind. I will like to see a more complete picture of Lance Armstrong written at a later date reflecting a well rounded character, a little closer to the super human image I have built up of him.