Whilst riding my beloved bike, I began to notice I was sensing increasing levels of discomfort in my groin, which at the time I merely put down to riding too often or for too long. However, whilst my wife and I were on our honeymoon (and having not ridden for 3 long weeks) my groin was in ever-increasing amounts of pain. I imagined that maybe all of the riding might have caused some sort of bruising, but something made me pick up the phone in our hotel room in Mauritius and book an appointment with my GP as soon as possible on our return to England. Time seemed to move slowly over the next few weeks but the check-ups, tests & scans kept snowballing. Then all of sudden, less than 3 months after my wedding (and at the age of 26), I was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer and was having surgery to remove my tumour.

However, I am pleased to say that I am one of the lucky ones; I didn’t hesitate in seeking a second opinion and because of this, my story has a happy ending. That being said, if I hadn't experienced discomfort whilst riding my bike, I may not have gone to the doctors and my tumour could have grown much bigger before I noticed it. Despite Testicular cancer being a ‘young man’s disease’, there still seems to be a stigma among men when it comes to talking about it; some men don’t think it will ever happen to them or they just delay going for a check-up through embarrassment or fear. This is what I hope to change. I would like to raise awareness among men that there are cancers out there that affect us and if there are men going through what I did, I would like them to know that they are NOT alone.

This summer, my wife and I are going on holiday to the South of France, as we have a number of things to celebrate (our second wedding anniversary, my year and a half in remission, and the 1st birthday of our first child Hugo - we didn’t waste time in starting a family once we realised it might not have been possible). Now I am in remission, I am coming through the deepest darkness I have ever known, and I am finally able to share my story and talk about the hell I’ve been through. Therefore, I am embracing my new spontaneous outlook on life and I am riding the 2972km journey from Stamford to St. Tropez on my beloved motorbike. My wife and son will meet me in France (hopefully with a cold pint of local beer).

This is where you come in. I would love your support to raise awareness/money for Stand up to Cancer because, as we all unfortunately know, Cancer touches the love of so many!! Please share my story as far and wide as you possibly can and I will be forever grateful!

Along the way, I will document my travels with a video diary and I will upload some clips as and when I can - please feel free to watch and share these too! If there's any fellow riders out there, then please share among any riding communities you may be a part of! If anyone is experiencing similar symptoms to me and has written it off as a motorcycling problem, then I might just help someone else too! 

Thank you for your support.