Fast Boy & 2 Girls

Many of you may know my friend Ezra Caldwell from his submission in the BRICKS for Young Adults Cancer Awareness Guide, or maybe from his amazing blog, Teaching Cancer to Cry. Or maybe youve quietly lusted after one of the custom bikes he's built. If somehow you DONT know of Ezra, now is your chance to change that.

In just a couple of weeks, Ezra and his wife Hilary, along with their friend Emily, will participate in the 2011 Colon Cancer Challenge 15k Run sponsored by the Colon Cancer Challenge Foundation. You can sponsor the team by clicking HERE.

Ezra was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in July of 2008. This event obviously means a lot to him & his wife, but these are amazing people who have touched my life in a big way, and I hope people will support their efforts!

Saturday!! Ride & Talk with Ezra Caldwell

Repost from the Bike Pgh blog, because Erok did such a damn fine job writing this up!

Join BRICKS for Young Adults for a ride & talk with Ezra Caldwell, cancer survivor and owner of Fast Boy Cycles on Saturday, March 27. Fast Boy, a custom frame builder, gained some fame in the bicycle world over past few years with their production of wooden fenders and wooden handlebars, featured in Urban Velo #3.

Several years ago, Ezra was diagnosed with cancer, and his doctors told him he couldn’t ride anymore because of the pressure of sitting on a bike seat. So he built a bike with no seat. In a Bikerumor.com post, he said:

Yeah.. the assless is a pretty fun bike. I built it for myself over the summer after being diagnosed with ass cancer. They told me I couldn’t ride a bike. I asked if it would be ok if the bike had no seat. The doc said, ’so.. what? you’re just going to stand the whole time?’ ’yeah.. that’s right.’ He just shrugged at me and said, ‘yeah.. that’d be fine.’ So I built an assless bike.

You can read Ezra’s writings in his awesome and inspiring blog, Teaching Cancer to Cry.

BRICKS for Young Adults is a Pittsburgh based organization that aims to connect Young Adult cancer patients to people and resources that may be useful to them as they undergo treatment and beyond. They also hope to raise awareness about Young Adult cancers, and impact survival rates through education and activism.

This event is set to coincide with the release of their brand new Cancer Awareness & Resource Guide, the culmination of 6 months of hard work. In addition to providing practical advice, the booklet also features writings by young adults who were affected by cancer, including a contribution by Ezra.

The ride will start at 1pm at REI in the South Side, and will end (around 3pm) at the Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community on the South Side. Here Ezra will talk about bikes, his cancer experience, and The Assless, the special bike he built while dealing with cancer.


Event Details:

Saturday, March 27, 2010

1pm: Bike Ride – The ride will be social and low key, good for beginners, with an effort to use the trail system. Meet at REI in the Southside Works

3-5pm: Talk featuring Ezra- Ezra will talk about bikes, his cancer experience, and The Assless, the special bike he built while dealing with cancer. Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community, 2700 Jane Street, South Side

This event is FREE, but donations are always welcome. Attendees will also get a copy of the BRICKS for Young Adults Cancer Awareness & Resource guide, that includes a submission from Ezra.

2 down, 1 to go....for now!

Saturday's booklet release event was definitely a success, and a more detailed report, and photos, will follow shortly. But for now, I wanted to let everyone know about our third and final booklet related event for this month.



Ride & Talk with Ezra Caldwell

Saturday, March 27, 2010

1:00pm - 5:00pm

Location:
Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community
2700 Jane Street
Pittsburgh, PA


Join BRICKS for Young Adults, with Urban Velo & Bike Pgh, for a ride & talk with bike builder and cancer survivor Ezra Caldwell.

Ride will start at 1pm at a to-be-determined location, and will end (around 3pm) at the Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community on the Southside. Here Ezra will talk about bikes, his cancer experience, and The Assless, the special bike he build while dealing with cancer.

This event is FREE (you know how BRICKS likes to do it). Attendees will also get a copy of the BRICKS for Young Adults Cancer Awareness & Resource guide, that includes a submission from Ezra!

Ezra is SUPER awesome and I think people would really like to hear him speak. You may have read about him in Urban Velo a while back.

You can read more about him in his blog Teaching Cancer to Cry

Here is an article about him that was in Urban Velo #3

If youd like to join us just for the talk, please plan to arrive at HMBFC by about 3pm. Those biking can take advantage of the cool bike racks that will be provided by Bike Pgh, complete with bike valets!

Hope to see you there!

Calm before the storm...

Good day, dear readers, thanks for stopping by. Its been a little quiet around these parts, but not for long. March is gearing up to be the busiest/best/worst month ever. Hopefully just two of the three. It certainly cant be any worse than last March, so at least we've got that working on my side.

I wasnt feeling very good today, which is probably ok- Im sure Ive been overdoing it, working too hard, and my body has had ENOUGH. I tried to take it easy this morning, but my brain doesnt slow down very easily. So, in an effort to not feel like a total slacker, Ive decided to post a little reminder of the events we have coming up. I hope to see as many of you as possible over these three very busy weekends in March.

March 13, 2010- Tartan Devils Football Club Benefit for BRICKS for Young Adults

Join the Tartan Devils Football Club at Pipers Pub, located at 1828 E. Carson St. on March 13th, 2010 from 12-3pm as members of the team shed their locks to raise money for BRICKS for Young Adults. Teammates will accept donations in support of their public haircuts beginning today and leading up to the day of the event. Joining them will be the owner of the Pub, wives and girlfriends of team members, AND yours truly, founder of BRICKS for Young Adults. Those with hair long enough to donate will send their tresses to Locks of Love. Offering her time and skills to the cause will be the owner of Lunasea Salon and Day Spa, located at 110 S. 15th St., also on the South Side.

March 20, 2010- BRICKS for Young Adults Cancer Stories Booklet release party

Release party for the long awaited BRICKS for Young Adults Cancer Awareness & Resource Guide, to be held at AIR, 518 Foreland St, Pittsburgh, from 3-10pm. This project supported in part by a Seed Award from The Sprout Fund.

Details are still coming together but this event will include readings by booklet contributors and performances by local bands. With the help of the kind folks at AIR, attendees can bring a tshirt to screen with the BRICKS logo. Local healthcare comrades will be in attendance with info as well, such as the lovely Jude of Be Well! Pgh.

Stay tuned for more information, including a list of bands, confirmed so far are:

The Frantic Heart of It
Onodrim
Devil Deer
Shambolish

Booklet contributors are:

Katlyn Basilone
Robin Belinsky
Stuart Boslow
Ezra Caldwell
John Elliff
Luke Ferdinand
Joe DeFerrari
Charissa Hamilton-Gribenas
Jenn Gaugler (r.i.p.)
Rick Gribenas (r.i.p.)
Kristen Griener
Eric Meisberger
Jim Semonik
Louise Silk
Douglas Weaver


March 27, 2010- Ride and Talk with Ezra Caldwell of Fast Boy Cycles

BRICKS for Young Adults is teaming up with Urban Velo magazine and Bike Pgh to bring Ezra Caldwell to town. Ezra is a cancer survivor (WOOHOO!!!) and bike builder, who has an amazing story to share. He is also a booklet contributor and all around nice guy. Exact time and locations are still in the works, but there will be bike riding, story telling, and FOOD. Stay tuned for more info any day now...


Im really grateful to our friends and supporters, who believe in the BRICKS mission of raising awareness about young adult cancers, and connecting young adult cancer patients and survivors to resources and each other. Because of the generosity of more people than I can list individually, all of these events are FREE to the public. When I think of everything we have been able to accomplish in only 10 MONTHS as an organization, I feel really hopeful about the future. Please please please join us for one or all of these events, say hi, and support the cause!!!

Its whats missing that makes it awesome.

A bicycle. So what, you might ask. Well, look a little closer at that picture and what you'll find is a clever solution to a serious problem.

Ezra Caldwell is a 35 year old cyclist who was told, after a cancer diagnosis, not to ride his bike because the seat would put pressure on a tumor. Clearly not satisfied with that option, Ezra made his seatless bike. The bike is such an amazing way of managing a challenging situation while finding a way to maintain some normalcy in life while going through cancer treatment.

You can follow his story in his blog, Teaching Cancer to Cry and check out his work at Fast Boy Cycles.

Im hoping to bring Ezra to Pgh this spring to talk about his life and his work, so check back for details as I get that organized. His blog is totally inspiring (and the bikes are BEAUTIFUL), so be sure to check it out!