No Mountain High Enough: Raising Lance, Raising Me

by Linda Armstrong Kelly

From the mother of champion cyclist Lance Armstrong--an extraordinary story of the resilience of the human spirit and the remarkable effect of great parenting. Lance Armstrong has dazzled the world... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 076791855X
• ISBN13: 9780767918558
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Crown Archetype
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Dynamos Run in the Armstrong Family

I am glad Lance's Mom decided to write her story. After I read It's Not About the Bike, I was inspired and eager to learn how a seemingly super-human came to be. Now I know: his Mom exudes energy, enthusiasm, and optimism without bounds: who could lose with such incredible and selfless support screaming in your ear on each lap of the race. This is a book that focuses primarily on Linda Armstrong Kelly. Lance plays a pivotal but supporting role in the story. She is honest and forthright about the men in her life; other women have just shriveled and become bitter. She is unabashedly supportive of her son, in spite of his adolescent fixation with speeding and dangerous shenanagans with his pals. And... she raised a smart son who loves and respects his mother, especially shielding her from some of the pranks that would drive many parents to pack their son off to some military academy. The fireballs come to mind as I write this. She is a mom that celebrates Mother's Day, everyday. Now, if she can figure out a way to bottle and sell her optimism and energy! Enjoy the read.

Read it in two days!

Funny, sad, interesting, well-written, inspirational. I have great respect and admiration for Linda Armstrong Kelly. She is a remarkable woman with an incredible ability to adapt to any situation life throws her way. What a great woman!

SUPER MOM AND MORE

This is a story about Lance Armstrong's mother, but it is more a book about parenting and choices that people make. Linda Armstrong Kelly has made some interesting choices in her life, some good and some bad, but she seems to have gotten through them with a great attitude, and that is what I learned from this book. Oviously we wouldn't be reading this book, if she wasn't the mother of the 6 times Tour de France winner, but I found her insight into many topics interesting. She wrote honestly about not getting along with her mother and about other topics. She wrote about her one husband that beat her, another husband that was a womanizer and another that was a drinker. I liked that she changed the names of her past husbands in the story to protect them and her. She wrote about her worries when Lance would get hurt and especially when he was getting treated with Cancer which was very touching. I would suggest this book to Mothers who want to read an inspiring story. I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it highly.

The real victory

I'm a Lance fan. So, when I read this book, it was only out of curiosity for Lance's career. But I found myself reading about an everyday victory, and one not rewarded with multi-million dollar advertising contracts or front-page stories. Linda could have given away the baby. Linda could have received welfare and lived off the government. She didn't have to work hard to improve her career. She could have stayed in the projects or in bad marriages. Instead, her own determination lifted her and her child's life. Sometimes I feel down because I'm struggling to save enough to buy a house, and I'm earning far more than she did and I don't have a child to raise. This is a wonderful, motivating book by a woman who never believed it when people told her it couldn't be done.

Now we know where Lance got his drive.

Nothing was going to keep Linda Armstrong Kelly and her son from getting their piece of the American Dream. Knowing Lance's story is helpful, but not essential to enjoying Linda's telling of a life of poverty, less than wise choices and being mother to a live wire named Lance. (Who was supposed to be named Erica, should he have been a girl.) With little more than a heart full of love for her child and a huge amount of determination, Linda carved out a life for the two of them . . . truly against all odds. Armed only with a GED and a real estate license, she rose from a temporary clerk to the rank of project manager for a major telecommunications company. She raised Lance to believe in himself and it seems she didn't try to squelch his infatuation with danger . . . and speed. Her determination to succeed was quickly transferred to Lance, who's natural athletic abilities were just what the doctor (and his mother) ordered/needed to keep his boundless energy channeled in a positive manner. My favorite part of the story revolved around Lance's early competitions, when Linda was his only "pit crew" and it was, indeed, the two of them against the world. While being open and honest about her own unfortunate choices, Linda shows herself to be fallible, too. However, instead of having a pity party, she seems to learn from her every mistake and to take each personal relationship failure and make something positive out of it. It's good to know she's found the love of her life and is happy at last. Never flinching from responsibility. Instilling a good work ethic. Teaching the value of a dollar. Believing in the good in her child, despite some teen-age boy pranks to the contrary. Maybe Linda Armstrong Kelly should start her own foundation and teach parents how to raise their kids to be STRONG, responsible, caring and giving adults. Kudos to her . . . and that kid she raised to ride like the wind! Enjoy!