Big C - Big Cycle - Big Lake - Big Challenge! 

(follow me at https://www.facebook.com/BigCBigCycle/)

I’ve been living with cancer for so long now that I hardly remember life without it.  I was diagnosed twice with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in my twenties and then spent Christmas 2011 in hospital after a bi-lateral mastectomy for breast cancer.  In 2015, there followed a small skin cancer - fortunately not a scary one, but another reminder of the fragility of our bodies and the emotional turmoil that many people and their families and friends are experiencing today. 

As many of you know, Maggie's Centres have been invaluable to me and I am very grateful for the support of the wonderful team and people I have met there.  I am incredibly lucky to have a Maggie’s on my doorstep, but not everybody has such a lovely place to just ‘be’ when facing cancer, and it costs £590,000 a year to keep a Maggie's Centre open.  There are two million people living with or after cancer in the UK, and with over 300,000 new diagnoses each year, this number continues to rise.  Maggie's are needed now more than ever.

So 5 years on from the breast cancer, I am embarking on another crazy scary challenge on June 16th 2017 by joining the Vätternrundan (round Lake Vättern in Sweden).  It's the world’s largest recreational bike challenge.  Together with some very good friends, Lucy Hutson and Alex and Fernando Morton, we will be  cycling 180 miles (300km) in one go, overnight - and quite a lot of the next day!!  

I am riding in memory of two amazing inspiring women, Francesca Cantini and Shelley Mason, who I met at Maggie's West London young women's support group in 2012.  They have now sadly passed away, but I know they would definitely appreciate my craziness!

When I undertook my last cycling challenge, I was blown away by the support and donations I received, but I know everyone receives requests for donations every day.  So no pressure, but if you would like to support, I would be extremely grateful.  I have self-funded this trip so all your donations will go to charity.