It's Not About the Bike

Ok, but it kind of is. In case you have never heard of this book or this man (which seems crazy to me, but my dad is a fan of road racing so I probably know more than the average person)... Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer at age 25, and his cancer had spread to his lungs and his brain. He went on to win something like 7 Tour de France's after it was all said and done.

I had remembered my dad reading the book a while back and I thought I'd read it in light of my current situation. I really couldn't put the book down. Reading his story is so familiar, and I think a great book to understand what cancer is like - the discovery, the treatment, and the surviving. It brought up something I hadn't thought much about, which was the surviving part. Well, on one hand I've thought about it because I plan on surviving. But he almost describes life after cancer as the hardest part of it all. It helped me have some idea of what the days ahead will be like.

He says, "When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up or fight like hell." Now, what Lance Armstrong puts his hope in and what I put my hope in a very different things, but I love this quote. Maybe because I'm beginning to learn something of the emotional fight involved with cancer. The physical side seems obvious. But the emotional side might be harder.

So the book is mostly about his battle with cancer, but it's also about battling back to being one of the best cyclists ever. It seems that he learned the mental toughness necessary to endure and win such a race as the Tour from his treatment for cancer. It changed him. And I'm glad he wrote about it for me to read.