Brit living with stage 4 cancer celebrates halfway marking epic 30,000km bike ride from Bristol to Beijing
(Taraz, Kazakhstan) Tuesday 6th July 2021
In 2018, 24-year-old Bristolian Luke Grenfell-Shaw was diagnosed with a stage 4 rare and aggressive sarcoma. The next year saw him undergo chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy, and during his first round of chemotherapy, his 25-year-old brother, John, fell to his death in the Lake District.
Luke’s inspirational story has seen him turn phenomenal adversity into a zest and vigour for life and living to the fullest with cancer, first completing the Bristol Half Marathon in 2018, graduating with a Masters from Oxford University while on chemotherapy, travelling the world. And on 1st January 2020, he set out to complete his dream to cycle from Bristol to Beijing on a tandem. The idea was to complete the journey, joined by other CanLivers (a moniker, coined by Luke, for people living rich and full lives with cancer), friends and individuals from the countries he travels through, all the while rewriting the narrative of what is possible with a cancer diagnosis. The journey from the UK to China covers 30,000 kilometres and 30 countries, taking on the challenges of cross continental travel during COVID times, with the ambition of raising £300,000 for cancer-related charities.
This month, Luke will hit the midway point in his journey, having completed the first three legs of the expedition, travelling through Europe and into southwestern Asia. While he regularly invites his growing community of followers to participate in their own way, he is specifically inviting friends and followers to celebrate the midpoint of the expedition this month by designing and executing their own challenges with the same alliterative appeal (e.g. bedroom to beach or Birmingham to Bradford).
The challenge, scheduled for 17-18 July, is open to all and can be customized to any level of ability (more info on Bristol2Beijing’s Facebook page).
Currently traversing Kazakhstan, Luke has invited fellow CanLiver, thirty-four-year-old Kate Price, to join him on the tandem in recognition of this phenomenal midway milestone. The London school teacher first joined Luke on the tandem between Bristol and Worcester while herself on chemotherapy for a rare stage 4 cancer, Adrenocortical Carcinoma. Shortly after she joined for a second time through the Netherlands and this week she’ll reprise her place on the tandem once again. Luke and Kate, who have since become firm friends, have just set off from Tashkent and are set to spend two-to-three weeks on the road together.
Commenting on his journey to date and aspirations, Luke Grenfell-Shaw, said: “It’s my firm belief that we all can live richly and fully, even with cancer. Halfway into this incredible journey where I’ve learnt so much, been helped by so many people and seen the best of humanity – particularly in these challenging COVID times – I hope that others will be inspired to believe that they too can live their dreams. I’m hugely grateful to the amazing Bristol2Beijing team and everyone behind the scenes who’s made this journey possible, and each and every person who’s helped us raise an amazing £94,000 for charity. It’s a crazy and totally awesome expression of support! Having Kate rejoin the tandem is the most brilliant and powerful way to mark this halfway point, as we’re showing together that you can still live your dreams, even with cancer.”
Now travelling in Kazakhstan with Luke after a sabbatical school year to focus on her health, Kate is delighted to be re-joining the journey, having supported behind the scenes for over a year through website management, podcast production and more. She commented: “I’m thrilled to be a part of this amazing expedition and it’s a joy to have an open invitation to cycle with Luke as he crosses the globe. It’s a long journey, but the miles go quickly when you’re having fun!”
The Bristol2Beijing expedition is supporting four UK-based charities throughout the journey - Young Lives vs. Cancer, Teenage Cancer Trust, Trekstock, and 5k Your Way--Move Against Cancer - and one regional partner charity for each leg of the journey beyond the UK. For leg 4, which Luke and Kate are now departing on, the regional charity partner is The BEARR Trust. To date, over £94,000 has been raised from more than 1,700 individual donors with the four main charities having each received over £20,000 from this effort.
Luke Grenfell-Shaw is inviting the world to participate his Bristol2Beijing expedition, as he explores the globe uncovering stories of positivity, resilience and triumph in the face of adversity. To donate to his selected partner charities visit the Bristol2Beijing Virgin Money Giving page or check out the various ways you can volunteer, participate and support here. For more information about Luke and the expedition visit www.bristol2beijing.org, follow on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook or check out the Bristol2Beijing podcast and YouTube channel.