Rolando Ferreira
First Brazilian player in the NBA - RDJ Institute Founder
12 years in the Brazilian National Basketball Team
more than 200 games in International, Pan-American and Olympic Games
“While I read "Riding," I was immersed in the narrative, for there has never been a book, other than biographies of athletes, that made me feel so close and so knowledgeable about something, much less something with modern and accessible language. In truth, I felt this way because besides talking about self-improvement, the search for results, commitment, focus and other virtues that are part of the life of an athlete, the biggest part of the story takes place in Curitiba, the city in which I was born and currently reside. Furthermore, I participated in two of the Olympic Games cited in the novel: the writing made me go back in time. The story happens between the South Korean Olympics (1988) and the London Olympics (2012). The Olympics are the conducting string, the dorsal spine that temporizes and gives us a notion of the time narrated.
The reader is faced with the story of a couple that works for the International Olympic Committee, traveling the world organizing the details of the games, and that at a certain point have a son, who comes to be known as André. In this moment, the life of the wife Elizabeth takes a turn and her life is completely transformed. Her husband, Mario, keeps on working for the COI, and seeks to provide his son an education that will turn him into an international citizen with conscience and the ability to think for himself. Despite the distance, the family unit and the importance of bonds between the family nucleus' members are quite emphasized throughout the plot.
Despite basing itself on the journey of an athlete that seeks his objectives, "Riding" is not merely a story about cycling. It goes much further.
The lessons taught of self-improvement, commitment and focus are a full plate to the people who search for inspiration in their lives.
As an ex-athlete of old, I was touched to notice that, despite my difficulties and fights in the world of sports, the para-athlete, as André, suffers from the fight a lot to reach his objectives. The culture does not value the Paralympics as much as the regular Olympics, but there that you find athletes that are truly full of drive and willpower.”
I went into this book feeling as though it could very well be just another book for athletes to inspire and such and I think that's great but for the non athlete such as myself those kind of books aren't really that appealing to me.But once I really started getting into reading this book and started getting into the stories of each of the characters spanning through many different time frames and places and I just felt like I was developing a personal friendship with all of the characters involved like I could really be in the moment with these characters and relate to them all.Through each story I felt that I was going along this journey with them and I too felt inspired bu this book not as a athlete but as a human being.It is a beautifully and well written story and the author did a really great job of making these characters relatable and inspiring.You come out of reading this book feeling like you too can overcome the hurdles in your life and overcome.
If you would like to read this inspiring book and see for yourself how good this book is you can find it here at this amazon link http://www.amazon.com/Riding-Cassia-Cassitas-ebook/dp/B00VXY4BU2/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1444137378&sr=1-1
I did get to read this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review but my review is my own unbiased and honest review.
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