Road to recovery
Sitting in front of a mirror, I took a deep breath as I heard the buzz of the razor. ‘Here we go,’ my partner Chris, then 42, said. It was March 2017 and I was starting chemotherapy for breast cancer.
Doctors said I’d definitely lose my long, brunette hair.
So I wanted to take control. It seemed the only thing left I had control over.
See, Chris and I had been poised to jet off on a worldwide cycling tour. Ever since meeting in a cycling club in March 2014, we’d travelled with our bikes.
The next adventure, starting in Europe, was all mapped out.
Chris had retired after owning a construction company, and I’d put my job as a seamstress on hold. We’d pooled our savings.
But then, disaster struck. After a mammogram, I’d been diagnosed with breast cancer, and it had already spread to my lymph nodes.
Now, instead of packing for our travels, I was preparing a hospital bag.
‘We’ll go afterwards,’ I told Chris adamantly.
‘Let’s get you better first,’ he replied.
The next year was gruelling. Chemo, then lymph-node removal surgery and a double mastectomy.
But after 18 months, I was ready to plan our adventure.
‘Life feels so precious now,’
I told Chris.
I wanted to make the most of every moment.
And I hoped to give back to Prevent Breast Cancer, who’d been there for me.
Our plan was to travel the world, cycling 67 countries across seven continents in seven years. Raising money and awareness for PBC through donations.
We set off in July 2018 from the Nightingale Hospital in Manchester, where I’d been treated.
‘See you soon!’ I called to friends, family and the medical staff.
At first it was exhausting. After all, I’d only just recovered from cancer.
But as I hit my stride,
I felt my body relax.
From Manchester, we cycled to Dover, caught
a ferry to
France for our European leg.
We headed to Belgium, where we visited beautiful Bruges. Next were the Netherlands and Germany.
We swam in the Rhine in Switzerland before going to Italy, where we cycled around Lake Como and ate cheese in Gorgonzola.
We relied on our savings for food and essentials. And the generosity of strangers often offering us a bed.
But mostly we made do with our trusty tent, sometimes camping under motorway bridges or in derelict buildings.
‘We didn’t sign up for luxury,’ I laughed to Chris.
In March 2019, we crossed the Bosphorus Bridge in Turkey, and into Asia.
In Turkey, a
kind local took us up the mountains. There, we took our feet out of the pedals and popped them into skis!
But back on our bikes, we rode through temperatures well below zero.
Visiting the ‘Stans’, starting with Turkmenistan, was an amazing experience. A world away... Camping under the starry skies in the Kazakhstan desert, we only saw shepherds and their camels.
Communicated through drawings, hand signals.
We cycled along the Pamir Highway, a spectacular road weaving through mountains.
There were scary bits...
While camping in Uzbekistan, we heard men shouting, guns being loaded. ‘Chris,’ I whimpered. Slowly, Chris opened the tent.
Thirty soldiers were there, pointing AK47 machine guns at us.
Panicking, we explained what we were doing.
We were always careful, but it turned out we’d accidentally set up camp in a forbidden zone next to the border of Tajikistan.
We managed to smooth it over, thankfully.
In south Asia, we cycled along the Cambodian coast, visiting the beautiful temple complex of Angkor Wat.
China followed, then in
October 2019, in Taiwan, we visited ruins of buildings destroyed in the 1999 earthquake, which killed more than 2,000.
By March 2020, we were on Koh Phi Phi island in Thailand.
‘Beautiful,’ I gasped, camping on the beach.
But word was gathering pace about the COVID-19 pandemic. Soon, the tourists had left. But, determined to stay, we lived on a safe, deserted bay for three months.
Got to know local sea gypsies – nomadic natives living between land and sea, who travelled between islands on their boats.
They taught us to fish, to get water from their well.
Travelling back to the mainland, we hoped to continue our journey onto Burma and India.
But the borders were shut. We didn’t want to return to the UK and see the end of our trip.
So, in September 2020, we flew back to Europe, and we’re currently cycling round the Spanish coast as we wait for the world to open up.
We still hope to cover Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas before taking on Antarctica – our toughest challenge yet. So far, we’ve raised £14,000. And the plan is to cycle up through South Africa and finish in Madagascar in 2026.
Despite the unavoidable disruption, it’s been an incredible journey.
A cancer diagnosis can feel like the beginning of the end.
But for me, it was the beginning of an adventure of a lifetime.
He opened the tent and 30 machine guns were pointed at us
WORLD TOUR
For more information on Chris and Gabs’ amazing trip, and to donate to their fund, visit chrisandgabs worldcyclingtour.com