I cried today--I admit it

HellonWheels said:

What drives him does not drive the others, and this is why he will win.

I think there is alot of truth to that 😎

HellonWheels said:

As I watched Lance do the unimaginable, riding like a speed demon and win yet another difficult stage. I feel like a sissy-*ss saying this, but I cried tears of joy. I know Lance is driven be a desire to prove that cancer survivors can do something like this, not once, but six times!

My family has been wracked by cancer, we have lost so many members to various forms of the disease...I have seen this disease do its worst and I know how far Lance has come from the days when he was given less than a 40 % chance of living. What drives him does not drive the others, and this is why he will win.

GO LANCE!!!!!!

i have a doubt, as 99% of cycling fans in the world...
if he had cancer, and less than a 40% chance of living, plus he was a mediocre rider before the sickness... how can you explain this convertion in less than 2 years? and dont say that just training. i admit that there is no clean sportman, neither in cycling, but armstrongs case is weird, plus he says he was treated by doctor ferrari, and they are good friends
it wouldnt surprise me if armstrong had the same end as florence griffith

Miguel_garcia83 said:

i have a doubt, as 99% of cycling fans in the world...
if he had cancer, and less than a 40% chance of living, plus he was a mediocre rider before the sickness... how can you explain this convertion in less than 2 years? and dont say that just training. i admit that there is no clean sportman, neither in cycling, but armstrongs case is weird, plus he says he was treated by doctor ferrari, and they are good friends
it wouldnt surprise me if armstrong had the same end as florence griffith

Miguel : you know my thoughts on LA but I don' think this thread is a fitting place to reposnd in this instance.
I can empathis with HellonWheels in this instance - it is emotive for people
who have been hit by this illness.

I take your point though.
I just think in this instance - we should perhaps back off about the doubts.
Only my view.

limerickman said:

I don' think this thread is a fitting place to reposnd in this instance.

Good call!

Don't turn this into a lance bashing thread.

regards,

limerickman said:

Miguel : you know my thoughts on LA but I don' think this thread is a fitting place to reposnd in this instance.
I can empathis with HellonWheels in this instance - it is emotive for people
who have been hit by this illness.

I take your point though.
I just think in this instance - we should perhaps back off about the doubts.
Only my view.

Give you this much Limerickman...we agree to disagree but you're a class act.

steve said:

Good call!

Don't turn this into a lance bashing thread.

regards,

I personally knew (okay, believed) that as long as Lance looked strong leading up to this stage, that he would dominate.

Miguel_garcia83 said:

i have a doubt, as 99% of cycling fans in the world...
if he had cancer, and less than a 40% chance of living, plus he was a mediocre rider before the sickness... how can you explain this convertion in less than 2 years? and dont say that just training. i admit that there is no clean sportman, neither in cycling, but armstrongs case is weird, plus he says he was treated by doctor ferrari, and they are good friends
it wouldnt surprise me if armstrong had the same end as florence griffith

Lance a mediocre rider before his illness? I suggest you go and research his pre-cancer career. The best young rider in America in his teens, youngest ever world professional road champion at 21 (beating Miguel Indurain, Johan Museeuw and Andre Tchmile) winner of a number of classic road races in Europe- Armstrong was anything but mediocre. I don't care if people don't like Armstrong and think he dopes- that's their perogative, but don't make out he was some weekend hack who got sick and came back to win the Tour de France. He was one of the very best in the world when he got sick and that's something we shouldn't lose sight of.

mocka58 said:

Lance a mediocre rider before his illness? I suggest you go and research his pre-cancer career.

I agree, he was a medicore rider in the tour early on, but as far as racing in general goes he's been at the top since he was 21.

mocka58 said:

Lance a mediocre rider before his illness? I suggest you go and research his pre-cancer career. The best young rider in America in his teens, youngest ever world professional road champion at 21 (beating Miguel Indurain, Johan Museeuw and Andre Tchmile) winner of a number of classic road races in Europe- Armstrong was anything but mediocre. I don't care if people don't like Armstrong and think he dopes- that's their perogative, but don't make out he was some weekend hack who got sick and came back to win the Tour de France. He was one of the very best in the world when he got sick and that's something we shouldn't lose sight of.

Yah but Lance himself said that he would never have won the tour even once without having first gone through his cancer experience. I personally attribute his success to it as well and not doping like many people. When you are on the brink of death or not sure whether or not you will be alive in a year, time becomes important and making the absolute most of it is essential. Lance has had his brush with death, and is now capitalizing on time. He's figured out how to live his life all out and not just half way like so many of us.

LiquidMercury18 said:

Yah but Lance himself said that he would never have won the tour even once without having first gone through his cancer experience. I personally attribute his success to it as well and not doping like many people. When you are on the brink of death or not sure whether or not you will be alive in a year, time becomes important and making the absolute most of it is essential. Lance has had his brush with death, and is now capitalizing on time. He's figured out how to live his life all out and not just half way like so many of us.

I agree with most of what you say but I don't think anyone can say with surety where LA's career would have ended up had he not taken ill. He was diagnozed with cancer just after turning 25 and it was well advanced and he had been suffering with it for some time without knowing it. This must have affected his performance somewhat. He could have gotten stronger and with improved training he may have ended up a good tour rider anyway. But I think finding Johan Bruyneel also helped him and gave him the confidence to move forward. Maybe Jan Ullrich should join US Postal!

limerickman said:

Miguel : you know my thoughts on LA but I don' think this thread is a fitting place to reposnd in this instance.
I can empathis with HellonWheels in this instance - it is emotive for people
who have been hit by this illness.

I take your point though.
I just think in this instance - we should perhaps back off about the doubts.
Only my view.

Thanks Limerickman. There are plenty of other threads on the forum that either started out as, or evolved into Armstrong/doping discussions. Miguel should feel more than welcome to take his comments there. This isn't the place for it. There's no need for every thread that mentions LA's name to degenerate into a doping debate. We know where you stand on the issue but well done Lim!

Miguel_garcia83 said:

i have a doubt, as 99% of cycling fans in the world...
if he had cancer, and less than a 40% chance of living, plus he was a mediocre rider before the sickness... how can you explain this convertion in less than 2 years? and dont say that just training. i admit that there is no clean sportman, neither in cycling, but armstrongs case is weird, plus he says he was treated by doctor ferrari, and they are good friends
it wouldnt surprise me if armstrong had the same end as florence griffith

I'm sorry LA didn't conform to the story you wanted him to have... Please.. You aren't Lance, you didn't have cancer, as a result, YOU have no authority on this matter.

99% of the world doesn't doubt him, where do you get these facts? Your ass?

HELLON, I'm glad this was a joyful experience! No shame in tears!

meehs said:

Thanks Limerickman. There are plenty of other threads on the forum that either started out as, or evolved into Armstrong/doping discussions. Miguel should feel more than welcome to take his comments there. This isn't the place for it. There's no need for every thread that mentions LA's name to degenerate into a doping debate. We know where you stand on the issue but well done Lim!

Thanks meehs

Rgds
Limerickman

Miguel_garcia83 said:

i have a doubt, as 99% of cycling fans in the world...
if he had cancer, and less than a 40% chance of living, plus he was a mediocre rider before the sickness... how can you explain this convertion in less than 2 years? and dont say that just training. i admit that there is no clean sportman, neither in cycling, but armstrongs case is weird, plus he says he was treated by doctor ferrari, and they are good friends
it wouldnt surprise me if armstrong had the same end as florence griffith

hmm i think someone has not been watching the lance chornociles..
or read any of his books..
there is alot of painful things he went thru in his rehibilitation....
so educate urself b4 u accuse..

LiquidMercury18 said:

Yah but Lance himself said that he would never have won the tour even once without having first gone through his cancer experience. I personally attribute his success to it as well and not doping like many people. When you are on the brink of death or not sure whether or not you will be alive in a year, time becomes important and making the absolute most of it is essential. Lance has had his brush with death, and is now capitalizing on time. He's figured out how to live his life all out and not just half way like so many of us.

>>>>

I could not agree more. And its because I went thru something a little similar to what Lance did. 5 years ago I lost four babies late in pregnancy, and when I finally did have a successful pregnancy, the baby and I both almost died because my uterus burst apart (due to prev Csections). I know what it feels like to not only face death personally, but also face the deaths of several of your own babies, and the possible death of the last one. That, combined with my father's death from lung cancer three months after that near death experience, totally radicalized me. I made up my mind that I would entirely turn my life around. I was very heavy at that point, totally inactive....today I am 160 lbs lighter (I went from 305 lbs to 145 lbs currently), a cyclist, a fervent exerciser, and I only wish my father could be here to see me now.

So in a way I know what drives Lance, because the same sort of mental thing drives me.

when i said mediocre i meant average, he was not a superstar, nobody expected him of winning not even just one tour
he was world champion being 22 years old, well oscar freire was world champion being 23 and again when he was 25, do you think he will ever win the tour of france? i didnt want to offend at all, my apologies if i did
i just meant that his convertion is not normal, moreover if we consider that sickness

Lim, you're a class act! Sorry though.. I still have to give a response in this thread. 😄

The cancer thing.. it obviously transformed Lance on so many levels. Given that he recovered 100% physically, why is there still this belief that he shouldn't be capable of great things just because he had cancer? This perception makes me realize even moreso that it is very important to have someone like Lance. Life needn't be a downhill slope into oblivion after cancer, or some other grave illness.

As I see it, cancer had these effects on him:
-- He realized that life is short, so the time to get after it is NOW (focus, motivation)
-- Increased ability to suffer
-- Motivation to represent the cancer survivor community (motivation)
-- Loss of upper body muscle (improved power-to-weight)

Combined with his other inherent traits:
-- Enormous raw talent, just check his early palmares
-- Calculating, cunning tactician
-- Naturally very aggressive

The unknown for me is his incredible recovery powers.

I think that, minus the cancer, he would still have been a great champion. But the cancer helped transform him into a great TOUR GC champion, thanks in large part to the shedding of stubborn upper body mass. He used to be much more bulky thanks to his swimmer/triathlon past.

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t467644.html

HellonWheels said:

As I watched Lance do the unimaginable, riding like a speed demon and win yet another difficult stage. I feel like a sissy-*ss saying this, but I cried tears of joy. I know Lance is driven be a desire to prove that cancer survivors can do something like this, not once, but six times!

My family has been wracked by cancer, we have lost so many members to various forms of the disease...I have seen this disease do its worst and I know how far Lance has come from the days when he was given less than a 40 % chance of living. What drives him does not drive the others, and this is why he will win.

GO LANCE!!!!!!

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