Well well. Who'd have thought it? About a year ago, I'd been given less than six months to live. And yet here I am, alive and kicking, with my latest blood tests the best they could possibly be. No detectable signs of prostate cancer. You can't get much better than that, can you?

If you don't know my story, then here's a brief re-cap:

1. Three and a half years ago, I was diagnosed as having terminal prostate cancer.

2. At the time I was only 37, with a young wife and two very young daughters. Was overwhelmed by the thought of leaving them so soon (still am).

3. Almost all of the doctors in London gave me no chance of survival - told me I could have hormone treatment but that would only last around two years.

4. Had experimental chemotherapy and radiotherapy as recommended by Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York

5. Started riding my bike as my oncologist felt it would help me - told me to think of it as treatment.

And that's largely what I've been doing ever since. Last May twenty of my friends went out to New York with me to take part in a 42-mile bike ride around the five boroughs of the city. Together, we raised almost a quarter of a million pounds for The Prostate Cancer Charity.

So, how to top that? Well, I'm not sure that I can, but I've decided to try and complete the Etape du Tour, a mountain stage of the Tour de France that is open to around 6,000 amateur riders every year while the Tour proper is taking place. That means riding 118 miles, and getting myself up three mountains, finishing at the top of the legendary Alp d'Huez.

Oh yes, almost forgot. You have to ride at an average speed of around 12 mph. If you don't manage this then you are made to stop. Doesn't sound much does it, 12 mph? But if, like me, you can only climb at about 5 mph, it makes it very very hard. Will have to descend like a hawk and ride the flats like the wind. So please wish me and the handful of friends who have been brave/mad enough to join me luck. We're going to need it. Well, I am.

I've set up a web page with a training diary and some other bits and pieces. So, if you want to find out a bit more about the sort of preparation I've been doing (not enough), or just find out a little more about me (self obsessed), go to http://web.mac.com/d.hillier.

Of course, the good thing about taking part in rides like this is that it gives me something to aim for. Something to stay alive for. And I think that’s vital for anyone who is fighting cancer. Just as important is the fact that it helps to raise awareness of prostate cancer and the need for everyone to be vigilant against it.

Prostate cancer is obviously a man's disease, but everyone should be aware of it and the signs that indicate its early stages. If you are a woman with a father, a brother, a son, or a husband it's as much an issue for you as it is for the man in your life.

If you are a man, then you have to act like a REAL man. Know what your prostate is, what it does, where it is, what the symptoms of prostate cancer are and get yourself tested regularly. Think you're too young? Think that it can't happen to you? Well it can. It happened to me.

I still don't know how much time I've got left on this earth. In fact, I've stopped asking my doctors now because they don't know either. The odds suggest not as long as most people. My heart tells me that I'm going to be the lucky one, the miracle man if you like. Don't know if that's true, but in the meantime, I'm going to stay positive, stay active and keep giving myself things to stay alive for. I wouldn't be able to look my wife and daughters in the eye if I did anything else.

As part of that process, I'm going to continue to try to raise as much money as possible for The Prostate Cancer Charity - one of the few organizations that gives men of all ages access to well funded sources of information on the disease, along with help in coping with a diagnosis of prostate cancer.

We need organisations like The Charity to make sure funding for research into prostate cancer is as large as the amounts devoted to other similarly devastating cancers. We need it to make sure the best treatments in the world - treatments like I've had via New York – become available for all patients in the United Kingdom as soon as possible.

So that means we need sponsors. I know that many of you were incredibly generous with the amounts you donated to our last ride, but I ask you and everyone else from the bottom of my heart to donate whatever you can to the Charity this time round. I'm not expecting anything like the amount we raised last time, but it would be good to get even a small fraction of that.

In the meantime, don't forget to have a look at my web page http://web.mac.com/d.hillier. More important, don't forget ... cycling kills cancer. Allez, allez!