Mel Erwin is pragmatic about what it took to get her on the bike. “I have one and a half lungs. I take medication. I don't consider myself athletic. I wouldn't do it without a purpose.”
This Sunday, the 57-year-old will sweep across the Campsie hills north of Glasgow in a sparkly 'Camp Like Christmas' cape alongside her partner Sarah and 3,000 other participants.
It's all part of the inauguration Round 4a charity ride conceived by Sir Chris Hoy to challenge assumptions about people living with stage 4 cancer.
The roar is literal: After months of training, Erwin found that vocals “really help” on steeper slopes. And the pink and gold glitter embodies the spirit of celebrating each passing day, which is a hallmark of Hoy's approach to his own stage four prostate cancer.
The six-time Olympic champion stunned Britain late last year when it turned out that his cancer was incurablewith a life expectancy of two to four years.
Hoy's honesty and kindness in sharing his circumstances touched Erwin, who has been living with stage four lung cancer for five years. “Rarely do people talk about having stage 4 cancer. Shame, confusion – that's not what we talk about,” she said.
Hoy describes the unique event, which will see people living with stage four cancer cycling alongside their loved ones to raise funds for cancer charities across the UK, as “an opportunity to push the boundaries”.
Various routes and levels of participation are tailored to a person's physical abilities – from riding a static bike in just one minute to Sir Chris Hoy Glasgow velodrome with three outdoor courses of increasing length and height.
“It’s not about being the fastest,” Hoy assured participants. “It’s about preparation, about showing up, riding your path and being part of something bigger than all of us.”
The idea of what this movement inspired Erwinwho lives in east London, take part. “It's about being part of a community. It's really isolating for cancer patients, especially stage four cancer,” she said.
Hoy's motivation is to “shed light on what a stage four cancer diagnosis can look like and demonstrate that it is possible to live well and happily despite this devastating diagnosis.”
This position resonated strongly with Christine Lothe, from Bristol, who was diagnosed with stage four bone cancer last June, on her eldest daughter's third birthday. In the “whirlwind of shock and grief” that followed, Hoy's statement and his memoir, All That Matters, appeared. Lote, whose daughters Sophie and Chloe are now two and four, praised Hoy's writing about “dealing with your diagnosis as a family.”
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“Looking back, I wish my girls could have seen that I was part of something that really challenged me, at a time when I easily might not have been as willing,” she said. “I want to show them that role model of being positive and still being able to achieve something.”
A special achievement for Lote, who trained on the Bristol and Bath Railway, was relearning how to pedal using a prosthetic after having her right leg amputated below the knee.
“There’s been such a focus on it this year,” she said. “Obviously I can't completely forget about cancer when I'm cycling, but I don't think too much about 'scanning' and other things, I think about cycling.”
Many cancer survivors describe a severe loss of trust in their bodies because cancer can often lurk undetected. For Erwin, training made this task easier. “There’s something about the wheels turning, the fact that my muscles, my hips, my heart, my lungs, everything is working in sync.”
Hoy, Lothe and Erwin recognize that not every person with stage 4 cancer can handle such a physical challenge, and the event is designed with inclusivity in mind. Lote took the list of names from her. Instagram page people who would like to take part but are now too sick and will carry it around in their cycling jersey.
“Unfortunately, many people I know and love are not healthy enough to handle this,” Ervin said. “Me and Christina both know that one day it will be us. Right now we're doing everything we can to raise awareness and celebrate. But it also hurts, that's the reality. There will be tears that day because we've lost people along the way, and one day people will lose us.”
