Reason to Ride Book Review

Helen Keller once said, "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement."

Cancer survivor Buddy Boren, author of Reason to Ride, which documents his 20,000 miles on a bicycle to promote survival of the disease, lives these words in his everyday life.

He has done so probably since before his diagnosis. Then he decided alone to fight the illness that he was determined would not beat him.

Jim Hoyt, of Richardson Bike Mart, met Boren when he had already done three rides and was getting ready to make his second trip around Texas.

"As I listened to Buddy's story I was struck by his dedication and his passion to help people with cancer," Hoyt wrote in the book's Foreword. "I had not heard of very many long distance rides done solo, without a trail vehicle."

Astonishingly, Boren did ride solo and battled horrible weather, injuries, illness, dehydration, hunger, and some uncooperative motorists, to name a few obstacles.

But, true to his spirit he did not let any of these barriers get him down or stop him from reaching his goals. On top of that, his attitude never wavered, his spirit never sagged.

His book is a testament to the will of the human spirit and should serve as a guidebook for cancer survivors who aim to bike it to spread their message of hope to the country.

To say Boren's account of his travels is inspiring does not give credit to the motivational presence that encompasses his makeup.

He is truly a force to be reckoned with in every ride he takes and yet he writes about the occasional points when he has to slow down. But he comes back swinging every time, not letting any doubts or even the worries of his family keep him from finishing his project.

And it is a strength that is both awe-inspiring and miraculous to witness as you pour through the pages of his journal he keeps throughout his adventures.

In 2004 Boren was awarded the Patriot Cup at the Park Cities annual Fourth of July Parade in Texas.

"I first met Buddy in 1984," John Eagle of Dallas writes. "Buddy's spirit and commitment to excellence always impressed me."

Eagle said Boren is a man of his word and that his book tells of "a man who would not give up."

Most of Boren's friends couldn't believe that he was going to ride a bike around the border of Texas when he announced it in March 2000.

In May 1994 Boren discovered a big lump in the right side of his neck and he wondered if he'd make it to his 51st birthday on Sept. 7.

"The diagnosis from the doctors at Baylor Medical Center surmised that the primary source of the cancer was behind my nose in the nasal cavity area and it drained down in to my neck forming a tumor," Boren wrote in his book. "During the operation I had 30 other smaller tumors removed from my neck and shoulder area."

The idea to ride came in 1998 when Boren was reading an article in National Geographic about a man who rode his bike around the border of Australia, a distance of some 9,000 miles, according to his book.

"In early 1999 the stage was set for The Ride for Life Number One," Boren writes. "I decided that the pain that I was enduring from the radiation, blood tests, operations, and other medical procedures that I was going through were all to become part of the battle plan, a necessary part to win my war against my cancer."

Boren says he tells people now not to confuse the effects that the cancer is having on them with the debilitating effects from the treatments or procedures.

"I don't know, sometimes I think I was just lucky to be able to rejoin the world and survive my cancer," Boren, who eventually got to ride with Tour de France Champ and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, said. "There is something to knowing you are in a battle for your life and regardless of the outcome you face it head on with courage and determination."

Boren even manages to help out stranded motorists along the way while biking to promote cancer survival.

His initial ride around Texas is made up of 3,100 miles and it is during this route that Boren remembers his first radiation treatment was six years ago.

How did he cope with the sometimes unbearable heat? He made up wild fantasies in his head to distract him.

In between getting sprayed by crop dusters, smelling the horrible aroma of cattle as they passed by via vehicle, having bottles thrown at him by some annoyed motorists, and dealing with flat tires among other things, Boren kept his gratitude amidst the fire ants, enjoying all the nice surprises that came with his journey.

And - as he states in his chronicles - isn't that what life is really about?