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 enlarge | Authors: Saul Raisin, Dave Shields
Publisher: Three Story Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $17.80
You Save: $12.15 (41%)
New (28) Used (14) Collectible (2) from $14.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 291939
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 278
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0974849227
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.6092
EAN: 9780974849225
ASIN: 0974849227
Publication Date: September 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Inspiring through the tough times November 3, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was in a collision with a vehicle while I was riding my bike. I went through the same hospital that Saul went through, and had a great visit by him before I knew of the book. I'm currently taking therapy while reading this book and each word is inspiring for me to push for my own personal goals. Even if you aren't going through personal hardships as Saul, myself, and too many others have gone through, this is a story of extreme inspiration. A great read for anybody, cycling fans or not.
Inspiring Story October 9, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is one the more refreshing books I have read in a long time. You will not have to be a cycling fan to enjoy it. The book is much more about relationships with family, friends, hope, persistance, and a good guy finishing first for a change. I have ridden along side Saul since his accident and it is one of the most awe inspiring things I have ever experienced. It literally shocked me that he was able to overcome this near death experience and live to be a role model for the world of cycling. When you order this book get two copies, you will want to give one to a friend!
Compelling Read October 1, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Couldn't put it down, and that's saying a lot, if you knew how I tend to fall asleep after 5 minutes of reading anything!
 Best part of the book, is the cover? September 7, 2007
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
I recently read both of the most recent cycling books in circulation: Tour de Life by Saul Raisin with Dave Shields, and Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France by Floyd Landis and Loren Mooney, and offer the following thoughts about the former.
First and foremost, it is refreshing to have books out about the cycling world, notwithstanding the "noir" circumstances behind each of them. Secondly, both are easy reads and would be interesting to non-cyclists, although clearly less so than to us junkies whose lives hang in the balance on every bit of minutiae about the sport. Lastly, both books seem to have been built on two-part storylines; kind of a "Part I /Part II" approach. Call those the primary aspects these books have in common. Where they differ the most is in story development, as described below.
Tour of Life, which has a spectacular book cover, by the way, has a "book I" which involves Saul from crash through coma, and a book II focused on recovery-begins though back-on-the-bike. Book I is primarily the view through the eyes of Saul's parents, since Saul's own eyes are closed during much of this period as a result of the coma-inducing drugs he'd been given to control brain swelling. Saul's parents come off as salt-of-the-earth people, albeit a bit two-dimensional (which I suspect is more an issue with the writing than due to any actual shortcomings on the part of the Raisins).
One should be warned that Part I isn't exactly a thriller. Saul's down, Saul's in a coma, Saul's parents worry endlessly, Saul wakes up. A hundred and forty pages have gone by.
Sadly, there's actually very little in that part of the book (or the next) that gives you a good sense of Saul as a person. Granted, you hear a lot about his reputation as stubborn, the "American Dreamer," an inspiration to his teammates, a very popular rider, roundly loved by everyone, etc. - but very little about why. It's like reading an obituary for someone you never met - of course people are saying nice things. I don't understand why Mr. Shields didn't ask people what Saul had done to generate such fond feelings [or maybe he did, but the answers didn't make it past the editor's pen -- who knows?]. Anyway, oatmeal is a good pre-ride meal, but there's only so much of it anyone wants to eat, and "Part I" was a lot of oatmeal.
Part II ran hot and cold for me. Most enjoyable was the running commentary of the abnormal behaviors Saul adopted as a result of his brain injury, and his "sometimes awareness" of these behaviors, and the confusion he encountered in trying to reconcile why it is, for example, bad form to tell a woman exactly what he thinks about her body, and exactly what kind of urges that gives him - when he feels like it's simply the truth. Amen, Saul. Reading about this, and reading about the rigors of his rehab process gave me a much greater empathy for brain injury patients, as well as a much greater appreciation for the people who support and help rehabilitate brain injury victims. Hats off to y'all.
In short, buy the book because it's a worthwhile read and there'll be something in there for you.
It's not about the bike September 5, 2007
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
I'm all for Saul Raisin. I hope he wins the Tour de France and everything else. But this book is about a guy with a severe head injury. He might have gotten the head injury playing football or in a car accident. What he has to go through to recover is astounding; you can hardly help but to have a new point of view on head injuries and what it does to a person. But it's not a cycling book. I wanted much more cycling and less parental trauma, but let me say as a parent myself, I definitely feel for his parents and am grateful that I haven't had to go through it. But it's not a cycling book.
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