My Story
Riding for Adam is something we wish did not exist, but it does because Adam (James' son and Mark's nephew) was diagnosed with a rare and incurable cancer, synovial sarcoma, in 2016. It was the second time he had cancer.Soon after Adam's diagnosis, we decided to do something challenging to raise £10,000 for Cancer Research UK because we know research saves lives. So in late August 2018, still very much in grief, we set off from John o' Groats and headed to Land's End.When we crossed the finish line we raised more than £35,000.We didn't stop there, and to date we have cycled 7,725 miles (excluding training) and have raised nearly £300k for Cancer Research UK. We have cycled the Camino de Santiago (Camino Frances) in Spain, the North Coast 500 in Scotland, between all 42 Anglican cathedrals in England, and across the USA, from New York City to Chicago, and then Route 66 to Los Angeles.Our motivation has been our love of Adam, and there are two ways we would like you to understand Riding for Adam:1) Riding FOR Adam. Every time we ride, we remember Adam's life, his humour, and the impact he made on so many lives. We wish he was with us. But when we ride we 'hear' him cheer us on...2) Riding for ADAM. Adam is a Hebrew name that also means humanity. So when we ride we do so for everybody because the benefits of research are universal. We ride for those whose lives have been and will be changed by cancer, for their families and loved ones.We always ride with hope. We hope for an end to cancer, when it becomes an entry in the history books. This is not wishful thinking, for through research scientists are discovering ways to make that hope reality. Hope is based on the trajectory of past discoveries, current developments, and future outcomes. Or as we find in the Bible, and conflating hope with faith, 'Now faith in the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen' (Hebrews 11.1).We've been blessed with an incredible amount of support from people, not least our respective wives: without Penny or Karen our lives would be greatly diminished! Further, we have been brilliantly supported by Iain Every (Adam's godfather) who made sure we were hydrated and fed across the USA. He is an excellent friend!
