For IUS Police Officer Ruben Borrego, bike riding is an activity he enjoys and has made a part of his work routine at IU Southeast.
He even started the program for officers to ride bikes instead of cars, a sight that has not always been familiar on campus.
“I do not drive a car unless I have to,” he said. “Tuesday through Thursday you’ll see me on bike or foot. I like interaction with students.”
“Our entire police staff is dedicated, loyal and service-oriented,” Dana Wavle, vice chancellor for Administration and Finance, said.
“I like the part of community policing and being out and visible to students. It’s a creative way to monitor the campus and get officers out there.”
Borrego is now extending his bike rides around campus to a 150-mile ride from Louisville to Lexington and back.
It’s called the “Ride to Conquer Cancer,” and participants are in the middle of raising money to go toward benefiting the Norton Cancer Institute.
Borrego has his own personal goal of raising $2,500 for his “Team IUS,” which currently consists of two riders.
“I want to be a rider,” Borrego said.
“I have a task to raise $2,500 right now and I have a little over $300.”
“He understands community policing and it’s part of his personality to overcome. It helps raise awareness,” Wavle said.
Concerns about money do not show when Borrego talks about the ride. He said he is very optimistic and excited about this challenge.
Borrego’s positive attitude is something that has also helped him overcome more trying times, namely cancer.
“I developed cancer two years ago and was dragging but I had a lot of support from the [Police] department,” he said. “I would say ‘I’m not going home.’ I wasn’t going to have a fit and get depressed.”
Flo Gonya, English senior who worked with Borrego during this time attested to his determined attitude.
“Ruben was a Marine all the way,” she said. “Regardless of what he’s going through he doesn’t let it show. I visited him in the hospital and at work and he always had a positive attitude.”
It was during these two years that Borrego had to stop his daily bike rides.
“I was a daily rider. I’d ride around my neighborhood,” he said.
Going through this, he refused to let it get him down.
“I had cancer but cancer didn’t have me,” Borrego said. “I wasn’t going to worry about this. I refused to let it get me down.”
Borrego’s cancer went into remission in 2008. Now the signs of cancer are gone.
He is also using the tools that got him through those two years to help people around him who have been diagnosed with the disease.
Sara Kerberg, the wife of Jason Kerberg, a Floyd county deputy sheriff, developed cancer.
His uncle, George Borrego, also developed cancer and two other uncles died due to other forms of cancer.
“George is my rock,” Borrego said. “Sara is my rock, too. I talk to her husband and say ‘Don’t ever be negative. Be strong, be positive.’”
It is for people like Sara and George that Borrego is doing this 150-mile ride. He said now that he has beaten his cancer he wants to do this ride for anyone else who has not overcome it.
“It’s going to raise awareness and people can look to him as a role model,” Wavle said. “He wants to help and serve the community. He takes a great deal of pride in sharing ideas.”
The ride is September 26 and 27. Borrego’s Team IUS is getting back into the swing of things to prepare.
“I haven’t ridden a bike in two years,” he said, “But I can be ready by then.”
Right now he is settling back into his routine of biking around the IUS campus while
also making those around him aware about the cause of the ride.
“I’d love to see people put in at least one dollar. Students can even ride for Team IUS,” Borrego said.
“Ruben is very involved on campus,” Gonya said. “As far as I’m concerned, he is a very good representative of the university.”
Borrego has even set up a Web site at Ridetovictory.org for Team IUS where people can support him and watch his progress.
“He is going above and beyond,” Wavle said. “He will be successful no matter what the outcome. We’ll all be there with him.”
Borrego said along the way he has had support from those around him and understands what it is like to go through having cancer.
“This ride is not for me but for people who maybe don’t have the drive I did and who don’t have courage,” he said.
“I’m doing it for them.”
By NICKY OSINSKI
Staff Writer
nosinski@indiana.edu