''It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life'' is a 2000

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

book by American

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times fro ...

with

Sally Jenkins Sally Jenkins (born October 11, 1960) is an American sports columnist and feature writer for ''The Washington Post'', and author. She was previously a senior writer for ''Sports Illustrated''. She has won the AP Sports Columnist of the Year Awa ...

. The book was written shortly after Armstrong had won the

1999 Tour de France The 1999 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 86th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Ant ...

: he went on to win it six further times in successive years, establishing a record (later revoked due to his use of performance-enhancing drugs). In 1996, he had been diagnosed with

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an c ...

, which spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain, and was only given a 40 percent chance of living. This disrupted his career, but his success on his return prompted elements in the media to accuse him of doping. The book covers his story from childhood to the 1999 Tour, and the birth of his first child. A subsequent autobiographical installment, entitled '' Every Second Counts'' and also with Sally Jenkins as co-author, continued the narrative until his 2003 Tour victory. In light of the revelations made by the

USADA The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti-doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...

investigation in 2012, the passages about doping in the book are doubtful.

Summary

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, 21-year-old Lance Armstrong becomes World Cycling Champion. In Austin, Texas, four years later on October 2, 1996, at age 25, Armstrong is diagnosed with testicular cancer with metastasis to the lungs and abdomen. On October 3, Dr Jim Reeves removes Armstrong's diseased testicle. On October 5, after banking sperm, Armstrong begins chemotherapy. The first chemo cycle Armstrong undergoes is BEP. After receiving a letter from and talking to an oncologist, Steve Wolff, with events Armstrong discovers that the cancer has also spread to his brain. After Dr Wolff suggests Armstrong to get an opinion from Dr

Lawrence Einhorn Lawrence Einhorn is an American oncology, oncologist at Indiana University School of Medicine. A pioneer in cancer treatment research, Einhorn developed cisplatin-based chemotherapy regimens that increased cure rates while minimizing toxic side ef ...

—the foremost expert on testicular cancer—Armstrong went to the

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

medical centre in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. He decided to receive the rest of his treatment there. On October 25, Armstrong's brain lesions were removed by Dr Scott Shapiro. For the three remaining chemo cycles Armstrong was given an alternative protocol, VIP, by Craig Nichols — the primary oncologist. Armstrong completed chemotherapy on December 13, 1996, and by February 1997, he was declared cancer-free. In 1997, Armstrong launched the

Lance Armstrong Foundation The Livestrong Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that provides support for people affected by cancer. The foundation, based in Austin, Texas, was established in 1997 by cancer survivor and former professional road racing ...

to support those battling cancer. On May 8, 1998, he married Kristen Richard. In 1999 their first child, Luke David Armstrong, was born.

References

{{Lance Armstrong William Hill Sports Book of the Year–winning works Sports autobiographies Cycling books American autobiographies Lance Armstrong 2000 non-fiction books 1999 Tour de France Tour de France mass media Collaborative autobiographies