A GROUP of amateur cyclists from Winchester, who received a special send-off from the Pope on their Rome to London charity ride, have described how loss, survival and team spirit helped motivate them to raise almost £70,000 for Cancer Research UK.
Having already lost his father to bowel cancer in 1995, just days before Tim Elliott joined the ‘Inspired Living’ peloton in Milan, his mother, 89, died from cancer of the liver.
Tim said: “I was 50-50 about doing the ride but before she died, my mum, Evelyn said I should do it. I had her blessing and I thought of her when I needed motivation to push on up the really tough climbs.
“The ride was a welcome distraction and the camaraderie among the team really helped – it was really special.”
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Alongside his grief, Tim faced a few bumps in the road including a missing bike as he arrived to take part in Milan. An operational error by the group’s airline meant that he and ten other riders missed a day’s cycling while they waited for their bikes to arrive.
Then less than 24 hours from the finish, Tim was involved in a collision that left him with a broken collar bone.
Despite being so severely injured that he requires surgery, Tim was determined to be at the finish line with his teammates and six support crew.
Tim said: “I managed to go over my handlebars and landed on my shoulder and into a ditch. It has been pretty painful but I really wanted to be with the group at the finish, so after being checked over at the hospital, I jumped on a train to meet them all at the end.”
The team’s oldest rider and bowel cancer survivor, Andrew Gibson, 74, was not alone in describing this trip as the toughest of them all.
Having started the journey with eight others in Rome, Andrew, from Chilbolton, cycled for 17 days straight, often completing 110 miles a day.
Andrew said: “It was incredibly hard and it’s important to remember we’re just ordinary people trying to raise money by achieving extraordinary things. Many of us are sat at desks five days a week and the next we’re climbing the Stelvio Pass which is one of the hardest climbs in Europe.
“We were literally being turned inside out but I’m extremely chuffed that I managed it and we were all there helping each other out. We all went through bad spells and needed each other there to help each other through. The team spirit was fantastic.”
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Lionel Jones, from Winchester, said: “I’ve done five of these now and this was definitely the hardest but in many ways, it was also the most rewarding and it comes down to the team spirit – some of whom I’ve never met before – and we all shared the challenges in different ways.
“The messages of support and encouragement we received on social media and the donations also really helped us.”
Lionel helped to set up the fundraising committee but after taking part in four rides himself, his wife Alison died from a soft tissue sarcoma.
He said: “Oftentimes, I’d be riding with groups to help people keep going or I’d be taking in the stunning scenery on the climbs, and then in the evenings I’d have a moment of self-reflection and think about Alison. But we’d keep going so that others can avoid the pain we went through when we lost her and hopefully our efforts will help towards finding successful treatments for all cancers.”
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