Bicycle Design – Emily On A Bicycle

Tour de Pink California 2012

Here are a few images from the Tour de Pink California–an incredible ride for many, many reasons. Thanks to the Young Survival Coalition and Giant Bicycles for this ride which supports young women facing breast cancer. It was a pleasure to ride my Inspire bike for 200 plus miles, but mainly it was pervaded by an intense feeling of being surrounded by survivors kicking ass on bikes. As I was inspired by seeing other young women survivors out there riding during my own diagnosis, treatment, and recovery, I hope others continue to be inspired. It looks sunny and beautiful here but the journey is a long one for us all. Emily Gresh

Liv/giant holds second bike design contest | Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

Liv/giant holds second bike design contest | Bicycle Retailer and Industry News.

A quick post on this great contest (link above). It was definitely an honor and truly amazing experience to be a part of the first year of the contest sponsored by Giant Bicycles, highlighting the women’s brand Liv/giant and benefitting the Young Survival Coalition. Having my design selected as the winning design was such a joy. And, even better, sales from the bike raised $75,000 for the Young Survival Coalition, helping thousands of young women and their friends and family members find support during their experiences with breast cancer. I look forward to seeing the next iteration of the Inspire and hearing the story of another survivor.

With a little creativity and a few colored pencils, any survivor can enter her idea of a cool bike which can then become a reality. Survivors can submit their designs and a short essay by October 31. Good luck! Emily Gresh

Tour de Pink 2012: Wearing It On My Sleeve

: Day 2: riding 95 miles with my friend Jon and new friends, and yes I was drafting like crazy.

Day 1: Tour de Pink, beautiful lines of bikes. Rest stop in PA.

Tour de Pink 2012: 235 miles over three days. Philadelphia to Washington D.C.

Surely, the most intense part of this ride was not the riding itself but the people with whom I was riding and the cause. It is intense to be a survivor on the ride, I must admit. There is a bright pink band on the official jersey I receive. It has “survivor” printed on it in black lettering. I get one of those and, yes, it makes me pause. I wore my Rapha jersey on day 2 so it’s not pictured in the photo above but you can see the “survivor” sleeve there on my friend Kim, a four year survivor and really strong cyclist, not to mention incredible person.

The experience of having had that serious of an illness is still surreal and my moment-to-moment appreciation of every second of my good health now seems more personal than what I wear on my sleeve literally for this ride. But it is important to be visible here. As someone who has been through cancer sooner rather than later in life, I am grateful that I can see the faces of young survivors, as heartbreaking as it is to see so many people around me effected by cancer. We’ve been through something terrible and looking at anyone of us in an everyday setting, you’d never know. On the ride, I know I’m not alone in this experience. In this ride, along with other rides–but this one particularly for me–I know I’m not alone in understanding with the fullest weight that even after such adversity, so much is possible in life. More than I ever expected. My thanks to what I learned from the survivors who were out there on bikes doing the Tour de Pink long before me and helped me see the other side. And thanks to everyone who supported my ride by making a donation in support of the Young Survival Coalition. Emily Gresh

One Year Later: Tour de Pink 2012

Here it is a year later, a year since I completed my first Tour de Pink, the ride I had set my sights on when I was first diagnosed with breast cancer just after my thirty-ninth birthday. The year itself, my second year of real cycling and post-cancer, seems as miraculous as the year of having cancer was devastating and nightmarish.

Maybe not every day of riding but almost every day of riding, there are moments of crystalline miracles, easily forgotten on the one hand–a particular color of sky when starting out, a joke, some flavor of mood, and unforgettable on the other hand–that flavor of the day stays with you forever, along with the memory of a steady tempo that is matched precisely to the body’s workings, the right combination of conversation, unlabored pedaling to one’s own thoughts, the shape of a certain bicycle ahead, the shine of simple yet highly technical machinery, a few important words that then drift through the entire ride. These miracles have been my days. And my year.

I know I will enjoy the three days of riding–200+ miles from Philadelphia to Washington D.C.–and the camaraderie that will continue from last year into tomorrow when the ride begins, along with new faces. I know my body will endure and soak up the fun of those miles as it does each day and every ride, one year to the next. And of course, I will be riding my Inspire bike. Emily Gresh

If you are so inclined, here is the link to my fund-raising page for the Tour de Pink and the Young Survival Coalition. Every donation helps ensure that the rides continue and other young women and their friends and family members receive the information, community, and support they need when facing breast cancer.

http://www.ysctourdepink.org/site/TR/TourdePink/TourdePink-EastCoast?px=1060433&pg=personal&fr_id=1290

Avail Inspire Bike: Round Two

Notice about the bike selling out in Bicycle Retailer And Industry News

My story of cancer survival at a young age and how I came to cycling from dancing is but one story among many powerful stories. While my current bike may be of my own original design, it is now one of many Inspire bikes out there being ridden. The bike has been sold out for awhile, all three hundred of the bikes initially produced by Giant. A second production run of two hundred more bikes is becoming available to retailers now.

Each rider with an Inspire bike has her own singular story, how she came to choose that design, whether the bike came as a gift, or was purchased in its own right. For some, the bike is simply just a cool looking bike. For others, it has particular significance and meaning. Whatever the reason for coming into possession of the bike, I couldn’t be more pleased that more and more women are taking up cycling and getting out on the road. And there are inherent joys in cycling…regardless of the bike you ride. Emily Gresh

A nice mention in Bicycle Retailer And Industry News, link below:

Bicycle Retailer

via Monday News Briefs.