24hr Reading To Paris Cycle In Memory Of Steve
I didn't think it could happen, but it did.
At the start of 2022 one of my closest friends Steve was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer. At that moment in time, his beautiful little family was growing, with his daughter Elodie being 1, and his son Leo being carried by his pregnant wife Natalie.
At this point in Steve's life he should have been enjoying family life beginning, the joys of parenthood, first words, first steps, and cheeky smiles. Not the battle he was facing ahead.
However daunting the battle was, and being utterly devasted by the news, I was confident he would be ok.
Steve, is not only one of my best friends, but he's also one of the fittest. I met him at my local boxing club 20 years ago, he hiked, biked, ran and swam (to the point he even tried giving one of our friends Darren swimming lessons on a holiday they went on ).
If anyone could get through it, I knew it'd be Steve.
As 2022 rolled on, so did his battle. Rounds of chemo and the side effects that come with that, but also the MASSIVE pick me up in his son Leo being born.
Everything started going in the right direction, with receiving positive news from his doctors, and a trip to see family in America followed.
When I last saw Steve, it was to sign his children's passports. He looked fantastic and I thought he'd be here to stay.
But in truly the cruellest of turns, this wasn't to be. And we lost him a week before Christmas 2022. He was 35, married, with a 2-year-old daughter, and Leo 5 months. He was truly the nicest and most considerate person I've ever met.
I have a million memories I could share, but in recent years we both got into cycling through my friend, and his brother-in-law Ben. Myself and Steve would even meet up online on Zwift throughout covid and times when the weather was bad to ride indoors together through Facetime. Eventually, we managed to get out together in the summer to ride when we could, before all this nightmare happened.
I never thought I'd do a cycle ride in his memory. Especially after we had made plans to do events together. But now as I think of him on every ride, it seems fitting to raise money for Bowel Cancer by doing a charity cycle ride.
But not just anywhere.
Before Steve and Natalie had Elodie, they lived in Paris.
Therefore, myself and Steve's brother-in-law Ben will ride from Reading (where Steve grew up) to Paris in loving memory of him on the Thursday 7th September.
And if the stakes weren't enough, we plan to do it within 24 hours from the first pedal stroke.
If you've spared enough time to read through this story, I'd love nothing more than you to spare a small donation to help prevent this from happening to anybody else's little family. Every donation helps, and if you tell your friends about what we are doing it at least raises awareness against cancer and encourages them to get checked for lumps, bumps and blood in stools.
Thank you so much, and thank you, Steve, for being such a great friend.
Michael
More information about Bowel Cancer UK: We are the UKs leading bowel cancer charity. We support and fund targeted research, provide expert information and support to patients and their families, educate the public and professionals about the disease and campaign for early diagnosis and access to best treatment and care.
PS…
Myself and Ben will update throughout our ride and the training up to it, so if you’d like to see how we’re getting on with it you can follow us on our social media channels.
Michael’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/michaelgraycycling?igshid=MjEwN2IyYWYwYw==
Michael’s YouTube:
https://youtube.com/@michaelgraycycling
Ben’s Instagram:
Organizer
Michael Gray
Organizer
England
Bowel Cancer UK
Beneficiary