Tour De Hope - My Journey Part One

Eazi Business • June 1, 2020


I am a firm believer in never asking anyone to do something that you are not prepared to do yourself, and I encourage others to set themselves the very highest challenge when fundraising so they will get the support and buy-in from friends and family.

After being at Hope for three years I have watched two of our biennial cycle rides, a firm favorite in Hope’s event calendar, I have to say that being a non-cyclist, I thought they were all crazy cycling hundreds of miles a day - the chaffing and the saddle soreness amongst other injuries and ailments! After seeing them all tackle and achieve the 2,500 Furlongs back in 2019 I said to our office manager, “Hey Barb, I think I will do it next time!” She has held me to it and this is where my journey begins.

I wanted to blog/vlog my journey for myself, because when I say this is a challenge. When I have the tough days and feel like giving up I want to read back through and see how far I have come. I want to share my journey with others I hope to inspire and get them to think; “If she can do it, so can I!”. I hear so many people say, “I can’t do that, it’s too far. I haven’t time to train”. Sometimes you just have to crack on with it and embrace the journey.


Hope Against Cancer Tour De Hope 2021

I have to say I don’t have a great relationship with cycling. The history would tell my future self not to do it. I can remember I must have been about five years old when my Dad said on a lovely spring day that today I was going to learn how to ride a bike! I was happy on my trike albeit my knees were bruised from hitting the handle bars. Out from the garage came my sister’s old bike, dusty and rusty to say the least but it had been well loved by both sisters, 10 and 12 years older than me. After a few weekends I got my balance and I rode it. I didn’t really like it and never ventured from our drive on it. I must have been around eight or nine, when you start to want your independence and when in school holidays, I went to the childminders where all the other kids had bikes and went to the shop to buy sweets. I wanted to go too, so I nagged my Mum for a new bike. She took me to the bike shop and bought me my first brand new bike, a Raleigh Bluebell, with a little basket. I decorated it with streamers and “spokey-dokies” and the free reflectors that you got in the Frosties cereal packets in the 80’s. I had a great summer going to the shop with my friends, until late August when I went on a ride round the block with my friends and some older boys ridiculed my bike and chased me on it. Not being a competent or confident rider, they caught up with me and pushed me off my bike, picked it up and threw it in the road. After they went I got my bike and pushed it home, feeling so sad that they had done that to my bike after my Mum had spent a lot of money on it. But I was certain I wasn’t going to ride that bike again…... And I didn’t.

I didn’t miss my bike. I only rode it to keep in with my peers. Then in my last year at primary school we had the cycling proficiency tests. Everyone was so excited. I put my name down to do it and I went home and again nagged my Mum for a pink Raleigh Prima (that is what all the cool kids had). My Mum reluctantly got me one on the proviso that I would actually ride it. “Of course, Mum. When I pass, I can go on roads and everything!” My poor parents bought in to my enthusiasm. I got the bike and it felt huge. The wheels were massive and it had GEARS!!? No way was I using gears, so I practised riding a straight and even line up and down the cul- de- sac where I lived. I didn’t ride my bike into school. I pushed it. I wasn’t competent or confident to ride it and I liked getting the adoring looks that this cool bike drew from my friends. The test then came ……. I failed, I hit every cone and fell off numerous times. Then the worst part happened. I braked too sharply and went head-first over my handlebars. The playground was filled with laughter at my plight and I had to go home and tell my Mum I'd failed and wasted her money. That Raleigh Prima went in the garage gathering dust next to my Raleigh Bluebell.

So, having not ridden a bike in 30 years, today’s the day I see if I still have balance, I am not very well coordinated and I drive an automatic car as I could never master gears. So today, Friday 8th May 2020, I am taking my husband’s mountain bike to the sports field to see if I can ride, before I go and buy a road bike more suited to this challenge. So what is the challenge? Details are yet to be confirmed but we are looking to do up to 100 miles a day over four days cycling around the Ring of Kerry in Ireland. Organised by and raising vital funds for Hope Against Cancer, to fund world-class cutting-edge cancer research here in Leicestershire.

I have now returned home – with no injuries and with the help of Simon from “Fix My Bike”, my husband has purchased a road bike for me that I am going to collect tomorrow. Let the journey begin!

Saturday 9th May – Bike collected! They adjusted the seat in the shop and said that I was to go for a little ride so they could see if it’s right, I instantly felt sick! I got on the bike and I rode it but soon realised my hands were in the wrong position to brake and I was screaming, “Ian help! How do I stop?”. I eventually stopped by slowly reducing speed by using my feet. When I returned home I went to an empty car park to get more of a feel for the bike. I began turning and trying to use my brakes, but it all feels alien to me. Hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day and as my Mum always said, practice makes perfect.

May 25, 2020 – So, it is just over two weeks since I learnt to ride my bike. My next challenge was to tackle roads. It has to be said I feel much safer when I am encased in a metal car! I have built up to a staggering seven miles. I am struggling with gears, hills and that saddle. I am gripping my brakes so tight that my hands feel very bruised. Whilst I have to remind myself that I have come an awful long way, I am so daunted at just how far I have to go!

Why We Do What We Do - Part III

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Supporter Spotlight

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Why We Do What We Do - Part II

By John Nellis • January 16, 2025
I had mentally prepared myself - I am just the type to think, ‘ok - this is what I have to do, so let’s get started’.

Why We Do What We Do

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“It is the biggest emotional rollercoaster I’ve ever been on." 

Award winning Alice!

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Hope Ambassador Alice Greaves wins the Furnley House Community Champions Award for Fundraiser of the Year

Ellena and Ian's Story

By John Nellis • October 4, 2024
We recently met Ian for a coffee at the RVS café at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, his wife Ellena is coming to the end of a trial at the Hope Cancer Trials Centre and he is in remission having received treatment for prostate cancer at the Osborne Building. Ian generously donates to HOPE and wanted to share their story with us .

HOPE runners triumph in the London Big Half!

By John Nellis • September 6, 2024
On 1 st September thousands of runners took part in the London Big Half Marathon. Among the crowds were 18 incredible people taking part to raise money for Hope Against Cancer. The 13.1 mile course took the runners on a journey across London starting at Tower Bridge and ending at the iconic Cutty Sark in Greenwich. The event began at 8.25am with the start of the elite wheelchair race. This was closely followed by the elite runners and then the first mass wave. Dame Kelly Holmes led the elite runners off the start line. HOPE’s own Corporate and Community Partnerships Manager, Tim Gorman-Powell, ran in elite group A… Tim said, “I’m not sure how or why I found myself in that group but I enjoyed running alongside the best of the best for the short time I did so!” The sun was shining and spirits were high. The atmosphere was amazing as thousands of friends and family roared on the 10,000+ runners through the streets of London. The finish line was packed with spectators and reverberated to the loud music playing over the PA system. Tim concludes that it was “an incredible event from start to finish, with a great atmosphere and a beautiful route through the capital.” The HOPE runners not only raised thousands for cancer research and trials support but they also had a wonderful day. Here is some of their feedback: "It was a pleasure to run the Big Half in aid of Hope Against Cancer with a wonderful amount of money raised so far!" "I can't put it into words, it was so hot and hard but I LOVED IT!! Thank you so much for this amazing experience" "Great day running in London for Hope Against Cancer" "Enjoyable day in the capital with a great group of people all running for Hope Against Cancer. I even set a new half marathon PB!!!" We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone that made the trip to support Hope Against Cancer and life changing cancer research and clinical trials here in Leicestershire and Rutland.

‘If Alice Can, Anyone Can’ - Cycling 125 miles for local cancer research.

By John Nellis • July 24, 2024
A Hope Against Cancer Press Release

An Interview with Dorothy - Hope's longest serving volunteer

By John Nellis • June 6, 2024
We recently sat down with Hope’s longest serving volunteer Dorothy Tomlinson to talk a little bit about her time with the charity.
A man wearing glasses and a blue shirt is smiling for the camera.

Ian’s Story

By John Nellis • May 15, 2024
I believe that my experience with CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia) was fairly typical. It all began with an insurance policy blood test which showed a slightly raised white blood cell count that I needed to discuss with my GP. A referral to Leicester Royal Infirmary led to a diagnosis of CLL in July 2019. ‘A classic case’ the consultant said. I was 73 and it was a diagnosis by chance rather than by symptoms. The CLL was not that advanced and the doctors told me that there was no advantage to early treatment for this particular form of cancer. I was given reams of literature about the disease, which included plenty of optimistic comments about the success rates of the latest treatment, and I was put on Watch and Wait status. I soon learned that this is more realistically called Watch and Worry… I was also likely to be more prone to infection, and with COVID just around the corner, I became socially ultra cautious. I watched and I waited for three years, with blood tests every three months and ongoing discussions with my excellent consultant Dr Allchin. Dr Allchin was very clear about how the disease was progressing, realistic, but positive nevertheless. It was particularly helpful that my wife was able to attend all the sessions and that I could record them on my phone. In Autumn 2022 the tests revealed that it was time to start my treatment and I was given all the information I needed to make my own decision. I had two options. For me it was either take tablets for the rest of my life or a one-year treatment that would involve hospital visits. I chose the one year 'targeted therapy’ option. This is one of the new cancer treatments that research by centres such as the Hope Cancer Trials Centre has made possible. To begin I was given monthly infusions at the Osborne Day Centre at the Leicester Royal Infirmary. The nurses were superb, and the atmosphere was positive. This lasted approximately 6 months and while I was very tired for much of the time, there were not too many side effects. The treatment does affect your immune system so, in normal circumstances I would have needed to minimise social mixing, but the impact of COVID was having a similar effect anyway. The other part of my treatment was tablet-based which built to a crescendo of four large pills every day for ten months. This overlapped with the infusions, so that it was all completed within the same year. I received regular support from my consultant, from my CLL nurses (Sarah and Tina), from the Osborne Clinic nurses, and from the 24/7 Haematology helpline, and all this at an incredibly difficult time for every part of the NHS. My targeted therapy, which both enabled my immune system to recognise and fight the cancer, and attacked the disease itself, is a massive improvement on the earlier invasive treatments. To me, this clearly shows the progress made in cancer therapy thanks to research by organisations like Hope against Cancer. It was obvious how expensive all this is, especially as improvements are made in the effectiveness of treatment. Fundraising is a vital element in making these improvements possible. After I was told I was in remission I wanted to show my gratitude for the support I received at the LRI and donated to Hope Against Cancer to help support the incredible work of the Hope Cancer Trials Centre.
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