Dear Lance,

As sad as it may seem, I enjoy reading of your struggles, both internal and external. I really liked the quote on page 15, "And then, at that moment it occered to me: I might lose my life, too. Not just my sport." I don't know why, but it just seemed to hit me as well: You were that close to death, and stayed dedicated to your passions and your persuits. I wish I was that driven in everything I did.
I of course enjoyed the sections on pages 23 and on about your transformation into an avid biker and competitor. Just getting into cycling myself, I would love to be as good as you some day, and a triathalon would be a goal of mine for the future. (First I need to work on that swimming...) It's cool that you were sponsered at such a young age, and that your earning could go toward helping your mom, since your dad left.
I don't really know what else to say. While I can't agree with all the choices you made, such as leaving your first cycling manager like that (30) or leaving your wife (haven't gotten there yet), I respect you and all you have done for cycling and endurance sports in general. I would especially like to ask about you leaving your wife, since I don't know when I'll get there, and I would like to write it in a "letter": Why would you leave, even after you had to grow up wiht "3 fathers," and you knew hard it was? That just makes no sense, especially with a baby at home.

Michael

P.S. I would enjoy reading an updated copy including your 7th win and drug charges, if you would care to make one.

It's Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong

Metastasis: (12): the spread of a disease-producing agency (as cancer cells) from the initial or primary site of disease to another part of the body.

Torsion: (10): the twisting of a bodily organ or part on its own axis.

APPEALS
"I want to die at [100] years old with both an American flag on my back and the star of Texas on my helmet, after screaming down an Alpine descent at 75 mph" (1). This is an emotional appeal because it starts the book by shoing how intense he is and how patriotic as well. It makes you feel like he's a hero right off the bat.

"And then, at that moment it occered to me: I might lose my life, too. Not just my sport" (15). This is a logical appeal, for Lance, since it uses a fact (he just realized hecould die) and an emotional appeal for readers because they realize how close he was to death.

"My chest looked like a snowstorm" (12) In an X-ray, white is bad, black is good. He could have described his chest as "all white," but snowstorm just provides a good mental picture.

QUOTE
"Cancer would change everything for me, I realized; It wouldn't just derail my career, it would deprive me of my enire definition of who I was" (14) I really liked this quote because it shows how signifigant cancer can me, as well as how insane it was that he came back.


THEME
I think the theme so far is that even the toughest people can be weakened, because Armstrong was so strong and all of a sudden he was down.

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