Tag Archives: Bike Riding

Beer. Funny outfits. Conquering Cancer.

Posted on by
Reply

My good friend and Daily Gumboot collaborator, Natasha Moore, is doing a very good thing. She’s participating in the Enbridge* Ride to Conquer Cancer, which goes from June 18-19 and involves a fairly epic route from Vancouver to Seattle. All proceeds go to the BC Cancer Foundation

Here’s what the organizers of the event have to say about it:

It is a unique fundraising event benefiting the BC Cancer Foundation, a B.C.-based charity that raises funds for the BC Cancer Agency – a province-wide, population-based cancer control organization. The funds you raise stay in B.C. and benefit cancer patients across all of British Columbia.

Funds from The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer support groundbreaking cancer research at the BC Cancer Agency, focused on advancing new understanding of cancer with the goal of developing new therapies to extend and save more lives.

And here’s what Natasha has to say about it:

I’m riding for our lovely Book Club-ett, Michelle in memory of her Mum and for my friend and tri pal Sarah who also lost her Mum to cancer last year.
My team, Powered By Noie is geared up to raise $25,000 and it would be just awesome if you could help me reach my fundraising goal by sharing the link to my personal page on Facebook, Twitter and any other social media you happen to be on.

Michelle and I are grateful and appreciative of Natasha’s efforts, particularly because her recent fundraising event on Saturday night at the Greedy Pig involved a seven-hour pedal, funny outfits and delicious beer. The pictures in this post do much to tell the story.

Thanks, Natasha, for taking on this cause in honour of Michelle’s mom. If you’d like to donate to Natasha’s ride, just follow this link: Natasha’s Pledge Page.

Theo Lamb shows some support of Natasha and her funny outfits!

*Enbridge sponsoring the event makes things a bit awkward, which was recently best emphasized by a good friend of mine who grew up in Sarnia, Ontario, a town with way, way, way above-average cancer rates that are linked directly to the oil and petro-chemical refineries that make up the bulk of the city’s economy; so, I guess you need to ask yourself, first, how you feel about irony and, second, if you believe that good things can come the world of big oil before donating like I did.

Andrew Titus

Posted on by
Reply

Who are you?

My name is Andrew Titus. I am a human male in my late twenties. I work for a green energy technology company as a mechanical designer and I really love what I do. Perhaps, in the future, I will work to improve sit-skis – right now, with a lot of them (not the Canadian ones) there is a great amount of room for improvement, so I’m excited to do some work on that in the future!

What do you do for fun?

I ride bikes  – if I’m road biking it usually involves a big ride to Deep Cove, Horseshoe Bay, or Cypress; I’ve also done a sweet couple of ride – dodging over to the American side of the border – along Zero Ave (I don’t know if that’s actually what the road’s called). I also like hiking, camping, random road trips. Last summer, with two weeks notice my special lady and I just jumped in a car and drove…it was a great time.

What is your Favourite Community and why?

I don’t know what my favourite is, but one of my current favourites is “First Week Club” – when it comes to advertising for movies, it’s pretty much make or break in the first weekend; a lot of independent and/or Canadian films get pulled by production companies because they don’t make enough money during the initial release. This community, “First Week Club” involves friends seeing a film it before it comes out and then spreading the word within their networks. People then bring interested friends, film enthusiasts, and entire communities to the featured film. A very cool idea.

What is your superpower?

[This question was wrestled with for awhile, as Titus had a hard time thinking about what he has that no one else does - quickly, friends at the dinner table stepped up to let Titus know what makes him, well, super]. My superpower is probably my unique ability to take a commonly used object and transform it into something else that is useful in another, elegant,
meaningful way – some of my projects include redesigning a clock, two barbecues, a lawnmower, and I am currently researching how to build a real bamboo bicycle.

How do you use your superpower to build community?

I help all of my friends with bike repairs. [During the conversation, people at the table were yelling things about bamboo bicycles like this: "When you do it, let me know! I want one!" Here, let me show you how you need to blend metal with bamboo for the bike [INSERT HILARIOUSLY AWESOME ENGINEERING LESSON ABOUT BICYCLE FORKS WITH A DINNER FORK USED AS A PROP].

My three favourite things about Andrew Titus are…

1. He is pretty much always in a good mood. Titus is always up for a conversation about, well, anything. He has a great smile, exceptional listening skills and is genuinely interested in what people have to say. His fun-loving nature makes him a must-have addition to parties, dinners and outdoor adventures.

2. Creativity of a mechanical sort. As a math-idiot, I have a fantastic appreciation for people who can apply creativity to machines, appliances, furniture, and all kinds of other tangible objects. Titus builds real things. And these things help him build communities.

3. He is a giant. I mean, come on, he can hold the Tower of Pisa in the palm of his hand! Titus also hosts great parties.

- As told by John Horn…