Cancer journey has new meaning
Gault’s China to Greece ride to raise funds for research
An O¯ taki man is ready to bicycle a staggering 11,000km from China to Greece to raise money for cancer research. Lindsay Gault, 70, who starts the adventure this month, has spent about 18 months planning for it as well as a lot of cycle training each week.
He hopes people will donate money via his website, which will go to the Cancer Society New Zealand, and will give talks to various groups as well as a fundraising dinner when he’s back to raise more funds.
He’s reached out to about 100 businesses to try to get commercial sponsorship but hasn’t been successful.
“I’ve had two responses who were interested but not prepared to commit.”
The self-funded trip will take about six months and take him from Jinzhou in the Liaoning Province of China and through to Athens in Greece.
A lot of the ride follows the ancient Silk Road trade route through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Gault said the logistics for the ride involved working out the route, and border crossings, ensuring supply points that weren’t too far apart, and getting visas.
He’s also organised a separate event in Mongolia, a 1000km bikepacking event, to raise funds for the National Cancer Council, after he learnt the country had high cancer rates.
“I’ve still got a whole page of todos mostly on the electronic side because I have to load my GPS maps.”
Gault will be riding a steel-framed Surly mountainbike with pannier bags to carry everything from spare parts, tent, sleeping bag, food, clothing, and more.
“I’m pretty much self-contained.” He will carry an emergency position-indicating radio beacon so he will know exactly where he is every 10 minutes and others including his wife and children will know too.
“It also allows me to message out.” Gault envisioned various challenges from ensuring he had enough food between remote supply points to an altitude where about half a dozen mountain passes over 4000m needed to be tackled.
“I’ve got some altitude tablets from my doctor.”
So how is he feeling with not long to go?
“It’s mostly excitement but there’s a fair bit of nervousness until I get on the road.”
He said the language barrier could be challenging. “I’ve got a book of pictures of everything I’m likely to need.”
Gault isn’t a novice to longdistance bike rides. When he left the IT industry, he decided to ride across Africa, in 2010, which found he enjoyed the remoteness, reflection time,
beauty of places, and meeting people.
Since then he’s combined his love of adventure riding with raising funds for the Cancer Society as well as raising awareness of early intervention.
He’s cycled the South Island, gone from the Arctic down and through Canada, and right across the Red Centre of Australia’s desert from Albany via Alice Springs to Rockhampton.
One of his scariest moments was riding up a steep hill in the Canadian Arctic.
“I was going quite slowly when I heard panting and grunting. I looked over my shoulder and saw a grizzly bear who had been tracking me.”
The grizzly was soon beside him with Gault looking it straight in the eye.
“I had this sense of what a magnificent animal it was with its muscles ripping down its shoulders. I had been warned to take bear spray and have it accessible. The bear went straight for a bag which I had snacks in.
“I calmly got my bear spray out and gave it a blast and he got super agitated and raced about 20m away rubbing his face.
“I rode off, but really started to sweat and panic, and barrelled it when I got to the top of the hill. After about 20km I stopped but was still shaking like a leaf.”
Gault, who estimates he’s cycled 50,000km plus, said the motivation for long-distance cycling was the fact his father died at age 50.
“He had lung, liver and bowel cancer. When I started doing these bike rides, I was past his age, so I had this sense that he missed out on all this time of his life.
“But as I was preparing for the Canada trip my sister and my sisterin-law were diagnosed with breast cancer.
“My sister had got early detection whereas my sister-in-law had ignored the symptoms and it had gone into her spine and she didn’t make it.
“And being my age, I’m constantly being hit by friends being knocked over or diagnosed with cancer.
“There are so many good causes but cancer is one I decided to pick up.” i
To make a donation or keep up to date with Gault’s journey go to his website.