ConquerMountains.com

By John Rezell

It's my brother Jim's birthday! Also the anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight.

Not even I can come up with a stretch transition to get to the point of today's news.

Nope. It goes back to Barb, my sister and the oldest of the clan.

As I've worked on my book on the early days of covering bike racing in the US, tentatively titled "A More Simple Time: How Cycling Saved My Soul," I hear Barb's voice in the back of my head over and over.

"When are you going to tell your story of Lance Armstrong?" she asked me about 10 months ago, just after Lance went on Oprah and finally spilled his guts.

"I think everyone is pretty much OD'd on Lance Armstrong," I told her.

"Sure there are a lot of people who are," she said, "but there are a lot of people who would still be interested in anything about him."

As I read my book, two things became clear.

First, without question, although my interactions with Lance Armstrong had a profound impact on me, in the grand scheme of my life as a cycling journalist, they represent small fraction of what made American cycling so dynamic at that time and what inspried me on a daily basis.

Second, without question, combining all those stories in one book means that once again Lance would overshadow the real story.

Therefore, Barb, you will get your wish. I will tell my Lance Armstrong story separately. On its own.

What's that mean for me? Oh, just a rewrite of the mammoth "A More Simple Time" and the writing of a whole new book.

Sierra graduates in six months. Time to write.

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