fast boy cycles

this is ezra caldwell. a dear friend that lives in NYC. he is a good man with a big heart. in fact, he now has a port going directly to his heart. he has cancer. this is where they will administer the chemo. straight to his jugular.

so at just 34 years old, he got dealt this card and will have to see it through. his motto that a friend of ours thought up is: fuck cancer. i'm ezra. i think its comforting for everyone. especially him.

i put up a blog where he is documenting this new thing for him. he named it: teaching cancer to cry. i like that.

ezra began building wood fenders a while back. and then moved on to frame building. he came down and apprenticed with whitney and fast boy cycles began. then everything started happening very quickly. building frames was steady work, he became friends with jeff at urban velo and was a contributor there and was recently interviewed by them in his shop.

other nice words.

• pategonia writeup during bike to work week.
• american craft magazine did a article about his bicycles and frame building
• and that led to the the bicycle museum of america contacting him about putting one of his bikes into the museum. that was exciting!
• urban velo wood handlebars
• his flickr photos

his cancer discovery happened during the time i was having dumb nose surgery. funny how things pale in comparison to the c-word. my dad had lung cancer. twice. never smoked a day in his life. he's still here. he's active and healthy.

cancer is rough. and it afflicts too many people. i hope there is a break-through very soon to help people dealing with this. did you see the 60min interview about The Kanzius Machine?

His name is John Kanzius, he's a former businessman and radio technician who built a radio wave machine that has cancer researchers so enthusiastic about its potential they're pouring money and effort into testing it out.

If clinical trials pan out - and there's still a long way to go - the Kanzius machine will zap cancer cells all through your body without the need for drugs or surgery and without side effects. None at all. At least that's the idea.

for now, we do all that we can for the folks we love. and for strangers alike. its important.

ezra comes to visit and we ride around town.

he puts together yohei's bike in the living room. pie takes watch.

we go to that cowboy store on s. congress. midnight cowboy.

we do more riding with friends.

we drink many margaritas at polvos.

we do some good porch sittin.

the japanese national treasure wants to be a cowboy.

always lots of riding involved.

i have 4 bikes that ezra put together for me. the xtracycle, the milwaukee got a nice wheelset upgrade, and the surly 1x1 refashioned to a city bike. this one is a fast boy track frame and one of his wood bars.

can't wait to see him again. NYC is too far away.

nose bleeds are for pussys

hello friends. i have survived wandering septum surgery. it was not pretty. or easy. or without its complications. but that is behind us. lets talk about nose bleeds. like the kind that looks like a horror movie. and how bout pain meds. when you take so many you hallucinate and wonder if you are awake, asleep or dead. or about how you thought it was going to be like getting your wisdom teeth out....remember last summer.....you would be sitting around knitting and reading and watching awful tv. that wisdom teeth stuff was pretty fun.

not so with the nose. the real horror show began on thursday, 4 days after surgery. greg came in and sat down on the bed....and nosebleed from hell began. i got freaked out cuz i didn't want no more of this shit. i was done. my nose hurt. i could barely breath. i had some kind of splints, shints, i dunno up my nose. and i was miserable and off pain meds.

greg ran me up to the doc. after hours. im glad he answered. after knocking frantically on the office door, a nurse opened up. doc led me to his office. greg sits beside me. and i only WISH we had a video camera. doc starts sticking suction tubes up my nose. says he can't really see -- so says: i'm going to take the shints, shunks (?) out. tells me to hold a tray under my nose. he pulls out these 3 inch long plastic things. first one. my legs are sticking straight out and i'm restraining myself from grabbing onto his white doctor coat. then the other.

greg says: wow.

doc grabs suction and jams them up my nose. later greg says it looked like my brains were being sucked out through the tubes. a couple minutes later. doc stands back. my fingernails are still embedded in the chair. and greg has a look of horror and fascination on his face.

i say: fuck.

doc says. feel better? i say uh yes. i blink a couple times. thank him. a few times i thank him. and the nurse. and we walk out.

i am now thrilled that the nose bleed happened. cuz those awful things are out of my nose. otherwise, i had 4 more days of them. i would have been a slobbering maniac if i had to deal with those things 4 more days.

we go home. and its time to celebrate. lets drink.

that's kinda how it went. i dunno what it is with the nose. maybe someone should have told me! maybe not. i had a few people (MY MOM INCLUDED) tell me afterwards they knew people that had this surgery and had all kinds of problems. but whatevers.

done. im back on the bike. even in the scorched earth temperatures we are experiencing in texas. bring it. i'm just glad to be back on the bike. and up. and breathing.

and yah. it all worked. go have the surgery if you need it. its hell. but whats a little hell for some good ol nostril breathing.

you are golden. really.

mamma said knock you out

maybe it was this time. i got this black-eye not from a proper knife fight....but from going over the handlebars on my mountainbike at the greenbelt and landing eyeball first on a protruding root a few years ago. my sunglasses saved my eye. thanks smith. luckily it was a big group ride and many people saw it. whats the glory of something like that when nobody's there to see the agony and defeat as you hit the ground.

but i kept going. the eyeball was intact. as with most falls where you want to be ok - i jumped up and no parts were hanging by a tendon.....so good to go.

there have been many other falls. riding and racing mountain bikes will do that to you. so i dunno if another fall to the face caused this or maybe i was just born this way.

tomorrow i have surgery on my nose so i can breathe like a normal human being and hopefully not get as sick with sinus stuff during the spring. last summer i had my wisdom teeth out - now my nose. what fun. summer vacations are neat-o.

i'll be glad when this is done and over. i can deal with a few days in bed knitting and sewing and watching bad tv. i've been assured pain meds and g has been kind enough to stock up on amy's soups, grapes, cane sugar rootbeers and he surprised me with a ben and jerrys american dream pint. i'm fuckin setup.

but i know after a while i'll get sick of it and want to be outside. riding a bike. talking a walk. pushing a wheelbarrow. i keep reading these internet horror stories of people having this surgery and doing something strenuous and starting the mother of all nose bleeds to where you've screwed up and they have to go back in there. uh no. lemme just follow the doc instructions...

me and pie got a new gig. his chariot arrived. so now he can run alongside it and then jump in when he gets tired. or we can go places further away. i'll be able to get tula over to austin state hospital for volunteer work without her passing out in the heat. and we can haul uh....beer. and soup. and shit..more fun times on a bike.

thanks for visiting. (IRENA! hi hi hi) and for keeping me straight on stuff i mess up on.

also if anyone knows the owner of this chocolate-colored pitbull found around airport and IH35 - i bet he'd like to get home now. thanks velokitty.

rapha (no L)

rapha rapha rapha.

it was back in 2005 when i first heard about rapha. whitney, famed austin framebuilder now nuclear button pusher, told me about their website. he had ordered some gloves and hat from them. at that time they only had a jacket, gloves, hat and a cute little satchel. i really wanted the satchel.

to me, they were this far away cycling company that seemed to center around riding their bikes all over the mountains of europe and creating very fine and lovely looking cycling clothes.

one of the first articles i read on their website was about glory through suffering.

Behind glory lies the misery of training, the slog of getting through bad days, the torment of going at less than your best and the absolute conviction that giving up is never an option. Herein lies the heroism of this beautiful sport the inner revelation that makes the cyclist impervious to ordinary weakness because every ride he has ever made exposes him to that defeatist voice; he has known it, faced it and conquered the fear of it, again and again and again.

kinda romantic huh. plus every guy pictured was an italian or belgium or spanish dream.

i began to get their catalogs and could see myself whisked away into the black and white photos drinking coffee on a sidewalk cafe with Gavino alongside our italian bikes about to take off for a 6hour ride though the countryside. i'd have my rapha satchel filled with bread and cheese, some apples and raisins. we'd stop for wine here and there. sit under trees and watch the clouds roll by.

see rapha has a way of doing that to an american girl whos never been across the big giant pond. when they came over to portland for the Handmade Bicycle Show, i was so envious. rapha? in america? putting on roller races and leading rides? delightful....

well. now here they are in austin. this weekend. roller races and a gentlemens ride in the hill country.

mellow johnny's will have a photo exhibition of six of the photographers from their magazine, Rouleur from july 11 through july 31.

the roller races will be SATURDAY, JULY 12 7pm-12am. it looks like you have to do a qualifying race friday - today. check with johnnys. i dunno.

here's to imaginary long glances from one side of the coffee cup at a street cafe someplace in europe.

p.s. photos not by me at all. they are from my mind.

shake your boom thang

happy day four. good tidings to you from a red-checkered apron, a dog and a micro-small couch. can someone pass me a beer por favor.

p.s. if you love attic ted like i love attic ted. they are playing the comal house tonite.

attic ted at yellow bike art show party gallery lombardi by the railroad tracks (before they tore it down to build boring condos)

equal rights

there is much injustice in this world. it can become overwhelming at times. being a cyclist, i feel like it gives us all a little better understanding and empathy for others that bear the toll of unfair treatment, in whatever form it takes and however it is used against another.

those of us that use bicycles as transportation have no doubt felt unjustified and even dangerous treatment from motor vehicle drivers because of their feeling that we do not belong on the road and the road is not to share. i'm sure there are many other reasons as well. but the carelessness of what seems like small actions on their part can cost one of us our lives. and it has.

this doesn't mean we shrink away from riding bikes or encouraging others to do so. living life is never all safe. but there are many things we can do by ourselves and collectively to make cycling safer for everyone. and those efforts are being made in Austin and Portland and Seattle and many other cities, big and small.

i hope too that by working towards equal assess to transportation facilities, roads - along with education towards safe cycling and co-existence between motor vehicles and bikes...we have a better and wider sense of injustices and unfair treatment towards others due to race, sexual orientation, financial status, unemployment, homelessness, non-conformity, misperception, mental illness, and downright lies and cruelty.

the world can be a hard place. there is much suffering. but each one of us has an opportunity to do something small or big towards combating cruelty and suffering. as simple as not judging and writing off the homeless in your neighborhoods. to volunteering and spending your time towards making something better. making someone feel good.

and finally what sparked all this was bad raps video they posted today. they had their pitbull ambassadors in the SF Gay Pride Parade. my heart has always swelled for the pitbull and their predicament in our society. it requires an education effort and a conscious and implied responsibility for those of us who are pitbull owners.

we have stereotypes applied to our fellow humans and our 4-legged companions - most that need to be re-examined and approached from a more humane and intellectual position. bad rap is one of those groups out there working to make it a better place.

thats all. i dont always have a way with words to say things well. but maybe the meaning comes across. be nice to each other. until we find the magical mystery instructions on how to save the world....maybe a smile and lending a hand can make as big an impact.

street racing this weekend

its looking like a good weekend. more stuff than you can shake a cycling pro at. temps will be soaring into the 100's. scorched earth in full effect. what's a little blistering. lets ride bikes. this is gonna be fun.

THURSDAY CRITS
THURSDAY, JUNE 19
The Driveway
Races start at 5:30pm. info
how to get out there - ride your bike

YELLOW BIKE HUMAN POWERED MOVE PART II
SATURDAY, JUNE 21
51ST Street Shop meetup. 10AM
it was a fun the last time we moved the shop at Wheatsville to Treasure City Thrift. come out and be a part of Yellow Bike's step into the future. The old beloved 51st street location is no more.....soon they will have a new building at webberville and 12th street. new beginnings. good stuff.

more info on the move from yellow bike heroes.

here's a little movie i made of the wheatsville move.

Austin Yellow Bike Shop Move from iridemybike on Vimeo.

AT&T DOWNTOWN CRIT
SATURDAY, JUNE 21
4th street area.
Races start at 2pm. Pro Racing starts at 7pm. this race always entertains. i'm so glad to see a crit like this in downtown austin. remember the year when the classic car that lead out the pro's hit a bump in the road at high speed after one of the first laps, with the pro's hot on it's tail and almost took out a whole section of spectators. that was awesome. a bunch more info

pic from 06 race.

URBAN ASSAULT RIDE
SUNDAY, JUNE 22. 8AM
RunTex 422 West Riverside Dr. 8AM
Josh brings the Fat Belgium, i mean, NEW Belgium event to where it all started. Ride your bike to checkpoints, do crazy things that will erase any personal space issues you may have, and then ride your bike to the finish where you will find plenty of kegs of beer. FOLLY & FUN! more info.

THE ERACING STIGMA CRITERIUM
SUNDAY, JUNE 22. 9AM
Austin State Hospital. 4110 Guadalupe St.
i just found out about this event. in my hood - on my stomping ground! me and my dogs go over to Austin State Hospital alot. too bad they don't have a bike & dog category. we hang out on the grass under the trees. me and my dog Tula volunteer and visit with the patients once a month. i love this place - and think is a great thing to help support them and community involvement with ASH and the patients. and whats a better way than a crit! fun....

lots more info

here's tula after one of our visits.