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Five bikes and
30,000 miles later...
Just over four years ago, when I got my bus
pass, I got a folding bike for my birthday.
Back then, I was in the habit of cycling up the
Cutstraw road to either Fenwick or Galston
road end, sticking the bike on the bus then
cycling the final mile from Shawlands to my
work in Cathcart. Ditto the reverse trip at the
end of the day.
In the summer of 2013, that journey became
LifeCycleForNeuroblastoma and I swapped
the folding bike for something more suited
to the long distance commute. Five bikes and
30,000 miles later, LifeCycleForNeuroblastoma
is now a global project to ride a million miles
on Strava, the cycling and running app and
has riders in a dozen countries all doing
their bit to raise awareness of the disease.
If you’re a cyclist, please consider joining
the LifeCycleForNeuroblastoma group and
donating your miles to the challenge: it costs
nothing and you’ll be helping to spread the
message every time you head out the door.
Neuroblastoma is cancer of the nervous system
in young children. Around a hundred children
are diagnosed in the UK each year, and the
survival rate is only 50%: for a child who
relapses, the odds are commonly as low at 20%.
For the last two and a half years, I have been
supporting wee Eileidh Paterson in Forres.
Eileidh, has been battling neuroblastoma since
she was two years old. Declared free of disease
twice, the cancer has subsequently returned
some months later, and now she’s fighting it for
the third time. Eileidh is just five years old.
The girls at Angelic Glamour did my nails as a
vigil for Eileidh back in March so if you see a
guy with Goldies n Pinkies in the supermarket
queue, that’ll probably be me. At the current
rate, the gel will have grown off just in time
to get them done again for Kids Cancer
Awareness month in September!
2018 and ride across that vast continent from
Brisbane to Adelaide to help raise awareness
for the Neuroblastoma charity in Australia.
Planning is still at an early stage but with the
Commonwealth Games being staged on the
Gold Coast, on the route south out of Brisbane,
it seems kind of apt to take LCFN there four
years after the Games were hosted in Glasgow.
The objective is to head over there needing
the 1200 miles that separates Adelaide from
Brisbane to take LCFN through 40,000 miles,
a far cry from the early morning commute up
the Cutstraw hill to the number 4 bus.
Angelic Glamour also have a stock of
LifeCycleForNeuroblastoma/Eileidh’s Journey
wristbands, which you can acquire for a donation
of £5. All money raised goes to Eileidh’s bucket
list for things that her mum knows she would like
to do while she’s still well enough. The bands, in
shocking pink on black, are a very attractive yet
symbolic fashion accessory.
There are nearly a hundred folk wearing
LCFN/EJ bands in Australia where Eileidh
has a significant following. Indeed, the story
of my bike ride was brought to the attention
of Neuroblastoma Australia earlier this year
by a radio DJ in Adelaide and the current
plan is to take the journey down under in
I guess I live every day on the bike like it might
be my last, because for the families of the kids,
that’s exactly the way it is. Give it everything
today, but leave a tiny wee bit in the tank and
hope you’re able to do it all again tomorrow…