In a crowd of celebratory riders and spectators at the 2025 Empire State Ride finish line, one road warrior stood out. A string of colorful beads hung from his neck, wrapped several times like a cascade to accommodate its 30 feet of length. The bright colors contrasted a white Excelsior jersey, catching the eye of passersby.
Naturally, people had questions.
“I don’t know why I didn’t expect it, but I had all sorts of people like, ‘What’s going on? What’s that all about? And I kept telling the story over and over and over,” said 2025 ESR road warrior Brice Dieter.
Brice was wearing Beads of Courage, given out through the Courage of Carly Fund at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Each bead tells the story of a child’s cancer journey. In this case, it’s the story of his son, James.
“Everything James goes through, he collects a bead for. So, every time he takes chemo, he gets a bead. Every time he gets a bag of fluids, he gets a bead,” Brice explained. “It’s both a beautiful image and a sobering one because of how long the string gets. It’s a powerful visual of what a child can go through.”