Cycle of Lies (book)

iainf72

'k, so it's Armstrong book. By Juliet Macur.

Started reading it today and it's very very very good. I'm tired of the whole thing but this is excellent. Unlike some other authors of books on him recently, she actually spoke to him post ban.

The early years stuff is great. His mother doesn't come out of it in a good way.

tailwindhome

Will this be on the end of season exam?

iainf72

TailWindHome wrote:

Will this be on the end of season exam?

You know it girlfriend.

RichN95.

iainf72 wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

Will this be on the end of season exam?

You know it girlfriend.

I'm skipping this module, dumping it like GSCE geography, so I'll do the questions about Michael Hutchinson's new book instead (more my kind of thing). I hope that's on the syllabus.

typekitty

Preordered it after reading the excerpt in the NYT. Downloaded to the kindle this morning. Very good so far!

MartinGT

Sounds interesting, not a fan of hardbacks though.

Is it true that Landis was supposed to be a better rider than LA? I heard that was in the book.

Mccaria

Just read Wheelmen, which was also a well researched and good read, will look out for this one. Wheelmen was not big on the cycling or the mechanics of the doping, but more focused on the background and commercial aspects.

It was interesting to read how much money he was making post retirement out of "ride/train with Lance" activities, usually tied in with triathlon events. Certainly helped me understand a bit more why he was holding on to tri competitions so much.

Richmond Racer

Mccaria wrote:

Just read Wheelmen, which was also a well researched and good read, will look out for this one. Wheelmen was not big on the cycling or the mechanics of the doping, but more focused on the background and commercial aspects.

It was interesting to read how much money he was making post retirement out of "ride/train with Lance" activities, usually tied in with triathlon events. Certainly helped me understand a bit more why he was holding on to tri competitions so much.

$$$. And status. And $$$. and status. They go hand in hand for Lance.

rick_chasey

Richmond Racer wrote:

Mccaria wrote:

Just read Wheelmen, which was also a well researched and good read, will look out for this one. Wheelmen was not big on the cycling or the mechanics of the doping, but more focused on the background and commercial aspects.

It was interesting to read how much money he was making post retirement out of "ride/train with Lance" activities, usually tied in with triathlon events. Certainly helped me understand a bit more why he was holding on to tri competitions so much.

$$$. And status. And $$$. and status. They go hand in hand for Lance.

Tbh it's easy to mock but a) this America and that kind of stuff is applauded over there and b) it's not surprising given his background (I.e no money or status)

iainf72

Rick Chasey wrote:

Tbh it's easy to mock but a) this America and that kind of stuff is applauded over there and b) it's not surprising given his background (I.e no money or status)

The book delves into this a bit. Basically rips apart that whole "raised by his brave single mom" thing. He had a pretty comfortable upbringing - He's just a grade A a-hole.

rick_chasey

iainf72 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Tbh it's easy to mock but a) this America and that kind of stuff is applauded over there and b) it's not surprising given his background (I.e no money or status)

The book delves into this a bit. Basically rips apart that whole "raised by his brave single mom" thing. He had a pretty comfortable upbringing - He's just a grade A a-hole.

Really?

Now that I am surprised about.

typekitty

His mum sounds like a total piece of work.

Interesting how someone said that if it weren't for his obsession with pursuing sport as a teen, he'd probably be in juvenile prison.

ETA: And his adoptive father apparently pushed him the hardest – the same father his mum said wasn't ever around. Gosh I just want to read her autobiography and see what else she's said.

dennisn

iainf72 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Tbh it's easy to mock but a) this America and that kind of stuff is applauded over there and b) it's not surprising given his background (I.e no money or status)

The book delves into this a bit. Basically rips apart that whole "raised by his brave single mom" thing. He had a pretty comfortable upbringing - He's just a grade A a-hole.

I'm sort of the opinion that people who write books about LA are in it for the money(most authors are). So making him out to be a complete A hole, cruel, criminal, doper, mad man, etc. is more about selling a book than actual truth. Now, he could be none or some or all of those things but what really matters to the author is selling the book
and we all know people don't buy books about Mr. Nice Guy. Everyone want's dirt. Pretty much all the LA haters, on this or any forum, want confirmation of their beliefs, want more dirt, etc. So you buy books to reassure yourself that you are, in fact, correct in your thinking. Kind of sad in a way. You all claim to know everything about the man yet need to buy books on the subject to reassure yourself. You all complain about LA being constantly in the news and then you go out and keep him in the public eye by buying into pretty much everything that even vaguely relates to him. :roll:

ddraver

your google alert went off again did it dennis? :roll:

dennisn

ddraver wrote:

your google alert went off again did it dennis? :roll:

Nah, I just love the LA threads. Bunch of guys calling him every name in the book and yet they take offense at me calling them a name or two, hmmmmmm. In any case why should LA get all the attention. I want my share too. Actually it works out well for all of us. I provide a bit of moderation on these threads(necessary on a forum) and you guys get two people to hate instead of one. Best of all worlds.

iainf72

Dennis - You're the person with interest in a single aspect of cycling. Most people on these threads contribute to lots of other cycling threads and have an interest in the sport as a whole.

So basically you're just turning the mirror on yourself

Ever considered reading one of the books and then commenting? Juliet's is a good one to start on.

mm1

Aren't we all facinated by this story and don't we all like a good argument, hence the endless commentary on the commentary. I will probably resist for a while, but will end up buying this book anyway (though I'm really looking forward to Hutch's new one).

dennisn

iainf72 wrote:

Dennis - You're the person with interest in a single aspect of cycling. Most people on these threads contribute to lots of other cycling threads and have an interest in the sport as a whole.

So basically you're just turning the mirror on yourself

Ever considered reading one of the books and then commenting? Juliet's is a good one to start on.

I'm going to contradict you(go figure). I post on other subjects. It's you whose name I never see on those other topics. Hate to admit it but all the forum babble about LA sort of interests me more than reading about him. Don't really care that much about him and it's just not my kind of reading material. To be honest I don't really have any favorite teams(in any sport) or any sports heroes(or villains). I do love following the sport and riding / going to races are favorites of mine.
I do love the LA haters club though.

iainf72

dennisn wrote:

I'm going to contradict you(go figure). I post on other subjects. It's you whose name I never see on those other topics.

Where else do you post on Pro Race?

dennisn

iainf72 wrote:

dennisn wrote:

I'm going to contradict you(go figure). I post on other subjects. It's you whose name I never see on those other topics.

Where else do you post on Pro Race?

I thought you were talking about all the other subjects on this forum. Not pro race in particular. :oops:

Crankbrother

You do make decent points Dennis, most of which can't really be argued with in terms of adding balance and pragmatism ... I think, however, you need to demonstrate a wider knowledge of the sport, especially other riders, for folks to take it on more than forumesque value ... If it's just the 'celebrity' of LA you find fascinating then fair enough, as you say plenty others do ...

dennisn

Crankbrother wrote:

You do make decent points Dennis, most of which can't really be argued with in terms of adding balance and pragmatism ... I think, however, you need to demonstrate a wider knowledge of the sport, especially other riders, for folks to take it on more than forumesque value ... If it's just the 'celebrity' of LA you find fascinating then fair enough, as you say plenty others do ...

I really don't follow the PRO scene all that much. It's fun to watch on TV(when available) but most of my energies are spent on the local racing scene. I find it a bit more interesting than watching a bunch of pro's who are here one and gone the next. The local racers are my fiends and it's much more personal with them than with pro's who smile for the camera, sigh an autograph or two, and are gone.

iainf72

I've got to the Floyd bit around the 06 TdF.

Fascinating, so much stuff I didn''t know.

My only probably with the book is how some of the players are made out to have superior morality because they're church goers.

ddraver

Welcome to the USA

iainf72

Yup, that's what I thought too DD.

Travis Tygart manages to brings Armstrong non-believing into why he'd go back to doping post-cancer. I thought Armstrong just came out of that as a rational a-hole rather than anything else.

But hey ho.

ddraver

Larry's atheism is one of the few things i still respect him for...

mm1

Reading it now - ok so far, could have done with being proof read before publising, lots of irritating small errors. The churchy stuff just seems odd. Not sure about the amature psychology, but the picture that's painted of Lance seems very familiar to someone who has a teenage son.

rick_chasey

Since you're the librarian, are you also offering lending services?

iainf72

Other things I've learnt : In 08 Armstrong suddenly realised coming back was a bad idea but couldn't get out of it.

Floyd's tormenting of Armstrong also pretty funny. And Hincapie going to pieces during P-R because DZ had told him Floyd was about to out him

Richmond Racer

iainf72 wrote:

Other things I've learnt : In 08 Armstrong suddenly realised coming back was a bad idea but couldn't get out of it.

Floyd's tormenting of Armstrong also pretty funny. And Hincapie going to pieces during P-R because DZ had told him Floyd was about to out him

What made him realise that it was a bad idea then?

(this is like Jackanory, but over a much longer period)

iainf72

Jean Marie LeBlanc wrote a piece in L'equipe that for some reason resonated with Armstrong.
It also sounds like when Floyd did out him he went to pieces in the background and really struggled.