Title :
It's Not About the Bike (My Journey Back to Life)
Author :
Lance Armstrong
Publisher
: Yellow Jersey Press
ISBN :
978-0-224-06087-5
Lance
Armstrong has been in news for the wrong reasons these days as he confessed
having taken performance enhancing drugs to compete for the prestigious Tour De
France title, not once, not twice but seven times. Yes, to err is human but
sometimes the price of committing some mistakes is so high that it can rip a
person off of his/her name, fame and wealth. Unfortunately 'the' unmatched and
'the' invincible Lance Armstrong has become an example of such a case. Final
verdict is he has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, Olympic
bronze medal that he won in 2000 and a lifetime ban has been imposed on him by
anti-doping agency. A very sad departure of a fighting spirit from the arena of
sports. Lance, you have indeed let your fans down. Lance writes in his book,
"Odd as it may sound, I would rather have the title of cancer survivor
than winner of the Tour" and after the big revelation he gets to keep the
former title only.
There is
no reason whatsoever why anybody should resort to unfair means to achieve
anything including any coveted prizes or awards. Having said that, his
indefatigable spirit to fight against a formidable enemy cancer and his
determination to take his body to the same level of fitness where it was before
the disease is indeed commendable. "It's Not About The Bike" is a
tribute to a man's inspiration, enthusiasm, perseverance, unflinching spirit
and determination to achieve what he aimed for.
Lance
Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the prime age of twenty four
when everything was going right for him in the sporting world. The cancer had
spread to his lungs and to his brain as well and he was given 40% chances of
survival by his doctors. The ordeal that began in the third quarter of 1996
took much more from him than he expected but he battled against the disease,
the life sucking chemotherapy sessions, the financial burden and fear of losing
his career. But he survived against all odds and not just survived, he worked
hard to regain his physical and mental strength so much so that just after
sixteen months of getting discharged from the hospital, he won the Tour de
France (in 1999) in the fastest ever time.
(Tour de
France is a grueling competition of cycling. The tour typically has 21 days of
racing with 2 rest days and covers 3,200km (2000 miles). Tour de France is
supposed to be the most physiologically demanding of athletic events. The
number of teams varies from 20 and 22 with nine riders in each team)
He
inherited the fighting spirit from his single mother who taught him to make
every obstacle an opportunity and to make every negative a positive. Lance
shares(partly ?) the pages from his life book with the readers and talks about
disappointments and miracles, despair and hope, and fear and courage.
Interestingly
he also brings up the topic of doping and drugs in the narrative at a couple of
places. In his own words:
"Doping
is an unfortunate fact of life in cycling, or any other endurance sport for
that matter. Inevitably, some teams and riders feel it’s like nuclear weapons -
that they have to do it to stay competitive within the peloton (dictionary
meaning: The main field or group of cyclists in a
race). I never felt that way, and certainly after chemo
the idea of putting anything foreign in my body was especially repulsive."
"I
can emphatically say I am not on drugs. I thought a rider with my history and
my health situation wouldn't be such a surprise, I'm not a new rider. I know
there's been looking, and prying, and digging, but you're not going to find
anything. There's nothing to find… and
once everyone has done their due diligence and realizes they need to be
professional and can't print a lot of crap, they'll realize they're dealing
with a clean guy".
But
entirely from the book's point of view, it is a well written piece, makes a
great read and has managed to motivate many people including our very own
Yuvraj Singh.
"I
would just like to say one thing. If you ever get a second chance in life for
something, you've got to go all the way."
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Posts
Doesn't it all sound hollow though, following his doping admission...?
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