Making progress - not long now

What a great weekend's cycling.  Here am I with Andy at the top of Box Hill, completed as part of a 45 mile ride Friday evening.  Clever Andy (in the Beating Bowel Cancer top) didn't tell me we were going up until we were almost there.  He knows how to manage me!  I know Box Hill isn't the hardest on the Ride London route but doing it felt like a real achievement.  And doing it on a gorgeous evening felt life affirming.  By the way, I will remember May and June for the weather being pretty good as I have been on some glorious bike rides in the Surrey countryside.

Sunday was the second Woking Cycle Club social ride.  The "social" refers to the pace, which was less than 11mph.  I chose this because I wanted to enjoy myself after Friday and couldn't be certain I would keep up with a ride of 15mph.  We went out to Farnham and back via some lovely country roads.  The hills are much less troublesome when you are taking your cue from others also pedalling up them.  We took the half way break at a lovely country life centre with, of course, cake!  Overall, door to door, it was 40 miles at a very easy going pace allowing time to chat, enjoy the scenery and concentrate on gears going up hills.

Next stop is to get the miles up to or beyond 60 and to get those Hills on route done.  There is a ride of 65 miles taking in much of the Ride London route on 29th June and I will see if I am up for it in a week or so. On 27th July the Cycle Club are doing a seaside run of 100 miles there and back. Initially I thought that would be a good thing to do two weeks short of Ride London, but now I wonder whether it is wise to do a full 100 so close, particularly as a novice.  Too much can go wrong.  So I may just do the outward leg and train it home with others who are also so minded.

All in all, feeling fitter, sleeping better, enjoying the cycling and definitely want to continue beyond 10th August.  I will, of course, need to get a permanent bike.  Time to buy a Lottery ticket!

In the meantime, there is just nine weeks to go until the Ride London 100.  Eek!!!!

I am taking part in Ride London on 10 August, aiming to raise £10,000 for Beating Bowel cancer's work.  I would be delighted if you could show your support with a donation on my Just Giving page.  Thank you. X

Time to step it up

It feels different. I am beginning to feel like a "proper" cyclist, and not just someone out on a bike trying to keep going for as long as possible.  It is thanks to a very nice man called Andy, one of our Ride London team, who has taken me out twice now - first for 37 miles and second for 29 miles with a few hills.  His patience and advice have been very welcome and it has been a tremendous reassurance to have his confidence that I will do this.

And, after riding 29 miles last Saturday, I still managed to meet up for the first time with Woking Cycle Club on Sunday morning.  I had to get up at 6am to be breakfasted, digested and there for an 8am start.  It was hard work motivating myself to get up and out. I hadn't slept that well or for very long and had a cold. I am delighted I got off my butt and did it though.  It was glorious.  The Club are really friendly and very welcoming.  There were quite a few new members of all backgrounds so I felt very comfortable.  The ride turned out to be a slow one (10.28mph), which is usual for the new members day.  They also have faster (up to 16mph) rides, not quite for me - yet.  We rode to Esher and stopped at 21 miles at G!RO Cafe for coffee and cake, meeting up with the faster groups.

The second half was back off into the Surrey countryside, seeing places I had never been to despite living in the area for over 8 years. There are some very nice houses tucked away down those country lanes.  There were a few hills that would have left me breathless just weeks ago, but I sailed up them.  At points I was able to buddy up and chat on stretches, which gave me a chance to ask questions about Ride London logistics and about Leith Hill.  The consensus on Leith Hill was there are no tricks, just endure, and perhaps fit better gears!  We ended back up where we started, Woking Leisure Centre, having done 37+ miles, which meant 44 miles for me door to door - hooray!

So, the plan now is to move the schedule up and, with light training during the week, see if I can tackle 50 miles this Saturday - taking my own pace and learning about fuelling up as I go.  Hopefully I can find someone to come with me.  Then I will definitely be up again Sunday to meet the Woking Cycle Club team for another lovely ride - and cake!  And I can't wait.  I love it.

I am taking part in Ride London on 10 August, aiming to raise £10,000 for Beating Bowel cancer's work.  I would be delighted if you could show your support with a donation on my Just Giving page.  Thank you. X

If you need just one reason

I can give you lots of reasons why I need your support in my Ride London effort.  Our nurses and how they need funding to do their valuable work every day.  Our information (booklets and via our website) that provide support and a source of hope for those dealing with bowel cancer and why we need to print more. Our approach to awareness raising by breaking the taboo, being the charity that challenges society to talk more about bottoms and bowels and the need to fund new campaigns that do this.  Or even the simple fact that we are still far too small and need to grow our income, our impact and our reach.

Personally, I was inspired to take part, despite my reservations about the size of the challenge and my ability to do it, by meeting one man.  I spoke to Christian Alvey on the day of last year's Ride London (pictured here on the right, with our Patron Matt Dawson) and was deeply affected by his story.  You can read it here http://www.justgiving.com/Christian-Alvey-RL100.

Quite simply, after hearing Christian's story there was no excuse for not signing up to do this year's Ride myself.  Christian exemplifies the heart of why we need to do what we do and why I, as Chief Executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, spend my days focused on our vital work.

So, whether you support me via my own Just Giving page (you can do so here), or whether you support Christian, or whatever way you show your support - thank you.  We are dealing with a cancer that needs to be beaten - whatever that means for every individual.  Beating Bowel Cancer will be here for you and for everyone we can.  We will do our best to make life better for those dealing with bowel cancer.  We will challenge society to listen about bowel cancer, to talk about it and, together, we will do our best to beat bowel cancer.

Thank you. X

Starting late

So, training has started.  Ouch!  Because I didn't have a road bike and the weather was pretty lousy I confined myself to the gym until recently, concentrating on building stamina and just getting used to exercise from doing nothing at all.  Then a very kind friend lent me his old bike - the Fuji you can just see in the picture.  It was time to get serious. Fortunately I live in Surrey (Woking border) and it is easy to get out into country lanes with their deceptively long slow inclines and, mercifully, not too much traffic.

I bought shoes and cleats, and scrounged up some reasonable gear and set off for a "quick" ride.  Six miles and one fall later I had started.  That was on 27 April.  I pushed the rides up and the miles then went from 9.7 to 15.6 to 18.3 to 21.7 and yesterday I hit 26.6 miles.  The last two rides were in cold, damp and windy conditions so I learned a lot about staying warm, adding fuel and the need for better socks!  I have also seen areas near where I live that I have never been to before.  There is something good about going down a road and hoping you are not about to set off on a dead end or a 10 mile detour.

The challenges so far are clear.  I need to improve my pace - still feels too slow to be able to complete the Ride London.  I need to get sorted on how to tackle even the smallest incline - one early on in my route has left me exhausted.  How will I ever get up Box and Leith Hills at this rate?  I need to start enjoying it - it is still something I have to do rather than want to.  But...I do feel great.  I feel a little slimmer, and expect weight to go as I seem to be burning close to 2000 calories per ride.  I am sleeping like a baby.  

I am nervous about getting to the level needed to do the Ride London, but have to trust that I will - if I get out there and build the miles up.  Who knows, maybe I will become a "proper" cyclist" and even buy my own bike one day?

And finally, proof.  This is a pretty poor selfie taken just before my first ride of just 6 miles. Hides the double chin (almost).  I will post another soon, when you can see I am beginning to look like a real cyclist.

I am taking part in Ride London on 10 August, aiming to raise £10,000 for Beating Bowel cancer's work.  I would be delighted if you could show you support with a donation on my Just Giving page.  Thank you. X

It has been hectic

With apologies for the silence, but the last few weeks have been very busy.

Our Patient Day was a stunning success - the biggest ever with great speakers. We heard from patients about their experiences and they gave wise advice about how to handle different aspects of bowel cancer. We heard from senior clinicians - doctors and nurses - about everything from trends in treatment to the psychology of being diagnosed with bowel cancer.  And we celebrated the best of us all with our Achievement Awards, given to five amazing individuals who are all helping to beat bowel cancer.  This year they were presented by Lord Mayor of London, Fiona Woolf CBE.  That's the lovely Gail Allen in the picture receiving hers alongside the Lord Mayor and our Chairman Sir Christopher Pitchers.

Ten days before I was locked in a radio studio doing back to back interviews with local stations talking about the need to have that life-saving conversation about bowel cancer and the need to Lift the Lid.  It was all about getting the message out, raising awareness and getting people diagnosed earlier.  I also talked about the need for the roll out of a new screening test which is easier to do and more accurate and, when introduced nationally, should improve screening uptake and so lead to many more being diagnosed earlier. We called for this knowing it was being considered for piloting - and we had asked for this many times in the past.  But in all our conversations and all our meetings we had no clear statement that it would be introduced anytime soon. Well, thanks to that little extra pressure Public Health England announced that the first pilots are to take place. Getting there over the years has been the collaborative work of many, but on the day we know the pressure to finally act was thanks to our Lift the Lid Day.

All in all, a successful bowel cancer awareness month.  Lots of conversations were had, many on our Message Wall, including posts from politicians and celebrity supporters. We won a specific response from a governmental body.  We announced our two new Ambassadors - Freya North and Kevin Sheedy.  We got massive media coverage numbering hundreds of local radio and press items. And, all in all, lots of awareness was raised.

Our work goes on.  Our nurses are here to help and in the future we need to help more people than we are able to now.  It's the people we are not able to be there for that keep me awake at night.  We are relatively small when compared to other cancer charities but our need is as big.  So, we need to help more people and make more noise.

I am taking part in Ride London on 10 August, aiming to raise £10,000 for Beating Bowel cancer's work.  I would be delighted if you could show you support with a donation on my Just Giving page.  Thank you. X

Inspired

On Sunday I welcomed the Beating Bowel Cancer London Marathon runners to our post-race reception.  It's hard not to end up using cliches, as each runner was inspiring and their dedication to our cause is amazing.  What was also amazing was that each time I said thank you for running for us and for raising much needed sponsorship every one, without exception, said "No.  Thank you".  They each said it was a privilege and said that they are were delighted to support such a wonderful charity.

Our runners had different stories about why they got involved and raised money for us.  Mandy is a nurse diagnosed with bowel cancer two years ago and she found that the support our own nurses gave her and our information booklets we provided really helped her make sense of what she was going through.  Ian, whose soldier brother has advanced bowel cancer, said that what we do is great and our willingness to challenge the taboo by talking about bottoms means that others will not have to go through what his brother has gone through.  Victoria, running in memory of her sister said that the support we provided Hannah with was amazing and that she and her family appreciated this.

I am incredibly proud of Beating Bowel Cancer and its work.  We run the only bowel cancer helpline in the UK.  We send out tens of thousands of support booklets each year. We work with patients' cancer nurses to support them in their care.  We bring patients, family and relatives together through our online forum, our Facebook Groups, our local fundraising activities and our annual Patient Day (the next one being on 26th April).  We raise awareness everywhere we can - not least through a constant stream of articles in the media practically every day of the year.  We even challenge governments to do better - having won two significant campaigns in the past year.  And it is still not enough. We need to do more and we need more money to do it.

So that is why I am doing Ride London.  I want to join the hundreds of individuals who support us by running, cycling, and in many other ways.  I want to do my bit to beat bowel cancer.  If you wish to support me and our work then I would be very grateful, just click this link: Mark's Just Giving page.

Thank you XXX

Lift the lid - have that conversation to beat bowel cancer

This month we start our campaign to get people to Lift the Lid and talk about what must be one of our last taboos - bowel cancer.  We want everyone to join in and talk about bowels, bottoms and bowel cancer - and to raise awareness, improve screening uptake and, ultimately, help save lives.  Because we just don't talk enough about this cancer.

Everywhere I go people ask me about my bum shorts badge on my lapel and I always ask them to identify what it is all about.  "Prostate cancer?" is a common guess.  Never has anyone said bowel cancer.  So, that gives me the chance to start a conversation.  I usually ask people to guess just how big an issue bowel cancer is - and no-one ever gets it right by correctly saying it is a big cancer killer (second biggest) and a very common cancer (fourth).  I also surprise people - shock them even - by pointing out that bowel cancer is effectively 93% "curable" (five year survival in official terms).  From family members to shopkeepers to high profile people in the media to senior politicians every one of them has been really surprised that bowel cancer can have such a huge survival rate.  Every one of them has got the fact that we can turn bowel cancer from a common cancer killer to a rare cancer killer.

So, this month we need to start the conversation that will save lives.  We need to Lift the Lid on bowel cancer.  Please do all you can.  Twenty years ago we didn't talk about breast or prostate cancer.  Now we know that they can be beaten and that we need to be more aware to save lives.  I want us all to do the same for bowel cancer.