One of the things that I love the most about Lance Armstrong's first book (It's Not About the Bike) is the story of his recovery from his treatment for metastatic cancer. When he was at his most frail, he decided to cycle up a very small hill beside his house, only to find an elderly couple cycling past him and his friend because he did not have the energy to go any quicker.
The metaphor is clear, isn't it?
He had to go back to the basics to return to the very highest point.
I fell out of love with Lance Armstrong before and throughout the crisis of his cheating, but this does not detract from the fact that he achieved extraordinary things (even though he was enhanced).
I often go back to that metaphor of Lance's Hill.
I seem to find myself at the bottom of this hill many more times than I would choose to, wondering whether I've got the strength to get back up, wondering whether I can become better, wondering whether I can go to other places and returning back to the bottom of the hill, feeling like a mess or a shambles, only to cycle up as slowly and watch the equivalent of elderly people cycle past me but try to keep going just so that I can get to a better place, get to the race, get to the finish line.
Blog Post Number - 3817
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