Awareness is all good and well, but I think we are aware of cancer. 

Secondary cancer, maybe people are not so aware of that. 

Secondary cancer describes cancer that has spread from the original site to other organs and almost always means that the disease becomes something that is managed rather than being curable.   

One More City (OMC) is an annual cycling campaign that moves from city to city, starting from where the previous years ride has finished. OMC aims raise to funds for specific projects at the Institute for Cancer Research (ICR) and at Imperial College London (ICL). Rather than awareness-raising, the charity funds research into treatment options specifically for the 30% of breast cancer patients who die of secondary cancer. 

To date, OMC has funded one PhD studentship at the Breast Cancer Resistance Lab at ICL to investigate a new drug for secondary breast cancer. This work is now going into Phase 3 Clinical trials.. The current campaign will raise £120,000 to fund an additional 4-year PhD studentship to create and develop new treatment options for secondary breast cancer patients.  

In 2017, the first OMC fundraisers rode from London to Paris in 24 hours. In 2018, they rode the 630k from Paris to Amsterdam over 3 days, and in 2019 they rode 720k from Amsterdam to Strasbourg in 4 days.The ethos of One More City is that the journey is never over; we are always progressing towards the next city, there are always more kilometres to do, more climbs to conquer and more challenges to face. This is akin to the reality of anyone living with cancer, especially secondary cancer, for whom the challenge is never over; there are always more treatments to endure, more scans to face, more side effects to manage.

I first became aware of OMC when I started riding with the Rapha (RCC) women's Zwift racing teams. At the start of lockdown in early 2020, my husband dragged my old turbo trainer out of storage, bought some speed and cadence monitors, and signed me up for Zwift. It was a gift that would see me through some of the darkest and most difficult challenges of the pandemic. A friend introduced me to the Rapha RCC women's Zwift racing team and I was hooked. Week in and week out, my commitment to them also saw me take care of myself, eat better, get sleep, continue training when I really didn't want to. When all of life was uncertain, Tuesday nights provided a focus and an anchor.  Our chats on virtual training and recce rides were so normal but also so inspiring. My mind boggled at the feats of what these women were doing on their bikes. It inspired me to get out and do more when the lock downs eased. 

In 2021, I hoped to ride with OMC from London to Lands' End, but exam preparations for the Primary FRCA Exam put paid to that. So, this is my chance to ride with the group of women who kept me sane during some of the most difficult times of the past three years. As a doctor, it is a cause I can get behind, I regularly see the devastating impact of secondary cancer on patients and their families. And, as a former researcher, it is a way of giving back to the research community.