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I'm Chris Bell, an engineer from West Wales, and I cycled almost 2500 miles through 14 European countries and regions during the autumn of 2010. My aim was to raise awareness of prostate cancer and to raise funds for the Prostate Cancer Charity. I cycled with Andrew Butcher for the first 2 weeks from Corfu (Greece) to Slovenia, and then continued back to Wales on my own, arriving home some 5 weeks later. Oh, and I passed the grand old age of 60 on the way! All you wonderful people out there had donated over £7500 to the national Prostate Cancer Charity and £233 to the West Wales Prostate Cancer Support Group by the end of March 2011. Please contact me if you would like to add to these sums. Many thanks! |
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Background
I have prostate cancer, a disease which kills 30 men every day in the UK. The Prostate Cancer Charity helps sufferers like me by providing valuable information and support. It also funds research, some of which has already contributed to the hormone therapy that many of us are undergoing, and it is ultimately striving for a world where men are no longer blighted by this unnecessary disease.
All men are at risk of getting prostate cancer. It's the most common male cancer in the UK, but how many men know its symptoms (urinary and ejaculatory changes)? Mine has focussed my outlook on life and I've enjoyed the last 5 years, in its shadow, with a new appreciation of just how wonderful life can be. Don't let the years simply pass you by but make the most of every day you have!
Summary
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Details and Photos (click on the photo to enlarge it) |
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Kindness
I experienced nothing but kindness along the way - before, during and after the actual ride. The media would have us believe that the World is full of bad people but, in my experience, most people are kind, generous and helpful, whichever country they happen to live in. Here are some examples...
- Beers bought for us in Albania and Macedonia by poor people who were simply pleased to see us visiting their countries.
- The Albanian family who gave up their room for us to sleep inside in the dry.
- Kate and Dom who gave me a lovely meal, a bath and a bed in Slovenia.
- Fruit given to me by an Italian market stall-holder who wouldn't accept payment.
- The meal bought for me by a German tourist in South Tyrol.
- Hospitality by Freda and Alois, Erica and Klaus, and Hanni and Reudi in Switzerland.
- Help to mend my broken gear-lever by Guillaume in France.
- The evening meal and the maps given to me by people I met in France.
- The young English man who helped me carry my bike and donated all the money he had in his pocket.
- And, of course, the money YOU have all donated to the Prostate Cancer Charity, which has exceeded all expectations. My sincere thanks to all of you - friends, family and complete strangers alike.
Problems
On the whole, everything went very well. The weather was generally good and both my bike and my body performed well. Only a few things caused me problems...
| Bike: | My expensive rear gear-lever fell apart without warning in France. Only the selfless help of Guillaume, at Sarrebourg Gîtes, saved me from having to complete the last 1300 km with just 2 useable gears. |   |
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| Body: | I developed a bad cold in South Tyrol which weakened me and prevented me from sleeping properly for several nights. Thank goodness for Ibuprofen and the herbal sauna and hot pool in Scuol! But I didn't feel strong enough to climb the Flüela Pass and took a train through the tunnel instead. | |||
| Brain: | I was prepared for the physical challenges but had underestimated the psychological effect of pushing on relentlessly, day after day, on my own. The first two weeks with Andrew were much better, so I'm going to ask him to accompany me all the way if I ever do anything as mad as this again! | |||
| Traffic: | I used public transport instead of following the roads up the Croatian coast and along the English south coast as both were dangerously busy and a nightmare to cycle along. | |||
| Accidents | Just one mishap, when I was knocked off my bike in Switzerland by a driver opening her car door as I passed - fortunately I wasn't hurt and my bike wasn't damaged. | |||
| Signposts: | The cycle paths were great when I could follow them, but I got seriously lost and wasted a lot of time and energy twice, in Italy and Germany, due to missing or misleading signs - like this one in Germany. (click on the photo to enlarge it) | |||
| Fuel: | My camping stove burns methylated spirits (ethanol or wood alcohol) which can't be taken on planes. It proved impossible to find until we reached Macedonia (and it wasn't easy to find there either), so we couldn't cook for the first 5 days. |
Cycle facilities
If Switzerland, Italy and Germany can provide such good facilities for cyclists, why can't we in the UK? Joined up cycle paths, urban contaflow routes, cycle-friendly traffic lights and good signage are the norm. The Swiss have red signed routes for ordinary cyclists, mountain bikers and rollerbladers (see the middle picture if you don't believe me!) and yellow signed footpaths for walkers, yet the flat parts of Switzerland are just as crowded as the UK.
I wonder what our European neighbours think when they cycle off a ferry at Dover. They literally dice with death - it must be the closest thing to Hell that anyone's ever likely to experience. What a terrible welcome!
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European conflicts
Northern France is littered with reminders of the First World War, and the displays at cemeteries and battle sites taught me a lot about that terrible period in European history. All the more remarkable, therefore, to find myself moving from country to country with only a roadsign to inform me - I didn't pass a border control or need my passport anywhere between Slovenia and the UK. The European Union isn't perfect by any means, but isn't it better that we discuss our differences these days instead of killing each other? I just hope that the former Yugoslavian nations can learn that lesson before that region blows up again - I sensed continued tension while I was there.
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Finances
This wasn't a cheap trip. It was partly a holiday (the first two weeks in the Balkans with Andrew) and partly a fundraising challenge (the remaining 5 weeks from Slovenia back home), although I did enjoy that part too! The fundraising wouldn't have made sense unless I raised more than it cost, and the whole trip cost me, personally, in the region of £3000 (direct costs plus estimated loss of earnings). Over £7000 had been donated to the Prostate Cancer Charity by the end of December, so it turned out to be a cost-effective exercise after all - phew!
Coincidence or what?I cycled from Dover to Seaford on 14 October, my first day back in the UK. It was also my 60th birthday. I stopped for a cup of tea at a café in Hastings and there, on the next table, was the first newspaper I'd seen in 2 months. It was the Daily Mail and its main headline read 'TEST THAT PREDICTS PROSTATE CANCER'. The article reported the recent MSMB breakthrough in prostate cancer research. And, of course, my sponsored charity, the Prostate Cancer Charity, funds such research. No doubt you can guess how I felt as I rode on for the rest of that day! |
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| page 2 : | Details and Photos |
| page 3 : | Slideshow |
| Prostate Cancer | |
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© Chris Bell |