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If cancer hasn't touched you, your family or your friends, then you're very much in the minority.

My wife's (Harriet), mine, our families and friend's life's changed dramatically when Harriet was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer in 2001. This was 6 months before we were due to be married and sent our lives in a completely different direction than the one we were planning.

Harriet had chemotherapy, a lumpectomy, intense radiation and several other treatments surely meant for someone a lot older and not for a 24 year old woman like my wife. Treatments, health scares and Scanxiety continued for 13 years until an innocuous shoulder pain required scanning. Staring at a scan which showed the cancer had come back in Harriet's lung, it felt like we'd been hit by a sledgehammer. Secondary Breast Cancer (Metastatic) is a phrase/terminology which correctly refers to cancer returning to your body but in a another area. It is incurable which also means in Harriet's case that it will be life limiting.

At the same point of a cancer diagnosis in Harriet's lung she was also diagnosed with a completely separate, unrelated case of Thyroid Cancer. (We are such a lucky couple huh?)

Removal of most of her left lung, further chemotherapy, removal of her thyroid and lifelong medication to follow,  this is our new normality. 

I'm immensely proud of Harriet and how she has coped and held our family together whilst coming to terms with her illness. It has completely changed her life and everyday throws both physical and mental barriers barriers in her way. 

"You can fight this" or "beat this" are too common a term used to encourage cancer patients through their journey. This suggests that if someone 'loses' their battle then they have failed or did not try hard enough. The burden of this perception destroys so many people .

As a husband and a father, it kills me to see how this is effecting Harriet as well as our families and friends. That feeling of  helplessness is impossible to explain and torments me everyday. Without the support of these friends and families, not to mention the superior, caring staff at HDH and the Sir Robert Ogden MacMillan Centre in Harrogate, we would be in a far worse position than we are now.

Everyone affected by cancer needs somewhere to go when they feel claustrophobic, empty and sad. They need somewhere non-judgemental, unassuming and supportive to go to seek solace and peace. They need somewhere to go to speak to others in a similar position about the cancer, or not............. ! They need to feel welcome and be able to access support which helps them come to terms with what they are facing or have faced.

Maggie's Centres offer this in abundance and are even more special as they are funded purely through donations and fundraising.

Harriet, myself, our child, our families and friends need a Maggie's centre! You need a Maggie's centre!

If you ever have the opportunity to visit a Maggie's centre please don't hesitate to do so. The comfort and warmth felt as soon as you walk through the door of any Maggie's centre is an overwhelming experience.

Maggie's Yorkshire will be built on land next to St James' Cancer wing in Leeds. This will mean that patients, families and friends effected by cancer will have immediate access to a Maggie's centre and will therefor receive the best possible support available.

Everyone within our Ride4Cancer Team has been affected  by cancer at some point and feel passionate about bringing the services which have never been previously available to the Yorkshire population.

Our aim is to raise as much awareness and money as possible to fund the ongoing annual costs required to help make Maggie's Yorkshire have a long and healthy legacy. 

We also aim to donate some of the money raised to the Sir Robert Ogden Centre in Harrogate to help towards the funding of therapeutic services available to cancer patients and their families. The staff here literally saved my wife's life and any money donated will help do the same for others.

I am not a particularly fit person but I've found that getting out on my bike with friends helps me deal with the pent up anger and frustrations within me. It is my way of achieving what is now called 'Mindfulness'.

Team Ride4Cancer will be riding the following events in full:

30/04/17 Tour de Yorkshire Day 3 - 100km

21/05/2017 Yorkshire Struggle - 108 miles (7 of Yorkshires toughest climbs)

24/06/17 C2C - 150 miles in a day (Seascale to Whitby)

30/07/17 Ride London - 100 miles

This is a massive challenge but we are a mentally (and a wee bit physically) strong team.

Thank you for supporting us.