Who cares if it's not about the bike?

A New York Times article published online Sunday titled "It's Not About the Bike," profiled seven-time Tour de France winner and Plano native Lance Armstrong and his life since his retirement from professional cycling in 2005.

Armstrong, who survived a harrowing bout with testicular cancer, is the head of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which he founded in 1997. The Times article documents Armstrong's accomplishments, including raising awareness and securing funding for cancer treatment. In fact, the piece states that he has sold 70 million of his yellow "LIVESTRONG" rubber bracelets - 10 of which belong to me - and has raised about $2.5 million via the foundation.

On top of that, his efforts helped pass a bill through the Texas legislature that provides $3 billion in cancer funding.
Not too shabby.

But then the article inevitably peers into Armstrong's personal life.

According to The Times story, Armstrong is known by people.com as the "Texas Playboy" for his romances with Sheryl Crow, Kate Hudson and Ashley Olson, among others. Some even speculate that Hudson left actor Owen Wilson - a fellow Texan and friend of Lance's - to be with Armstrong.

The story has input from people close to Lance, as well as observers like philanthropy professor Claire L. Gaudiani of New York University, who has followed Armstrong's career and public image.

"He should be concerned about the impact of how he dates on the seriousness of his legacy," Gaudiani says. "He's got a great role to play, but it doesn't have to be in bars or on red carpets with lovely young people. That will ruin his capacity to do the work he has said is important to him."

People have been trying to bring Armstrong down for years, especially with accusations of him using performance-enhancing drugs to win his multiple Tour de France victories. I think the recent negative press is just another example of haters trying to rain on Lance's parade.

So what if he cavorts with beautiful, famous women? Any other man in Armstrong's shoes would do the exact same thing. In fact, I think Armstrong's dating habits serve as a sort of inspiration to anyone who was or is suffering from a long-term illness, especially cancer. Armstrong is living proof that, yes, you can beat death - even lose a testicle - and still go on to have a healthy sex life.

Most men prefer to avoid the subject of testicular cancer - the most common cancer in men ages 20 to 34, according to Yahoo! Health - not to mention the thought of losing some of the parts that are key to making us, well, men. I think Armstrong belongs on the red carpet with the "lovely young people" as does every cancer survivor. His cavorting will never overshadow his accomplishments on the bike, behind his foundation or in his bed.

Ironically, Owen Wilson has perhaps the best compliment of Armstrong. Iin the film You, Me and Dupree, Wilson's character, Randy Dupree, extolling Armstrong's character, says to co-star Matt Dillon's character, Carl: "... Guy's done more with one testicle than you and I can do with three."

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Andy Comer is a copy editor and columnist for The Monitor. You can reach him at acomer@themonitor.com.