Adventurer Vanessa Ruck, alongside mum and nurse Tori Williams, is to take on a ride across the length of Turkey, both on electric bikes, with two toddlers in tow, in a bid to raise money for a Leukaemia charity.
The two stage epic will see the mothers tackle first of all a 504km 10-day stint from Fethiye in the West, over 11,869 metres of elevation gain into the country’s interior, stopping around Beyşehir Lake. Then shortly afterwards, they will again hit the roads and mountain paths for a further ten days at Lake Tuz to Cappadocia’s Göreme National Park, covering 527km and a further 10,044 metres of climbing, all with a toddler in each trailer, reaching the coast again further east at Mersin.
The elevation gain, if you’re wondering, is more than 2.4 times the summit of Everest all in and 38% of the journey will be unpaved.
In a pre-ride video punctuated by the words “Never be afraid to try as never jumping in is a far worse regret,” Vanessa and Tori’s goal is to pay homage to Tori’s mother, Wendy, who lost her battle with Leukaemia when she was just ten years old, aged just 39.
Vanessa adds, “For me, the story is much bigger than cycling. After being hit by a car while cycling in Oxford in 2014, I underwent seven surgeries and years of rehabilitation. I now live with chronic pain and a reconstructed hip.”
Since that time she has continued to grow an adventure sports following, completing challenges both on bikes and motorbikes across the world. This includes feats like the 6,000km Africa Eco Race across the Sahara in 2024 and the Red Bull Romaniacs event.
In her The Girl on a Bike social media accounts, Venessa Ruck will be documenting the adventure, but in the meantime she told CyclingElectric “rather than a fixed itinerary, we’ll be using our Beelines for navigation, but expect the daily distances and overall route to change considerably depending on our bodies, the toddlers, the tantrums and the equipment.”
Though there is a loose plan, the parents are intending to be flexible in their trip planning and accommodation has not been fully booked along the route. They will be flanked by a supporting motorhome, but also intend to make the most of the freedom of navigating Turkey and will camp along the way. Each mum expects to be towing around 40kgs of load behind their bikes in all weather.
Vanessa concludes, “Motherhood doesn’t mean adventure has to stop. It just means adventure looks different.”
Tori writes on her fundraising page, “Without a doubt loosing her so young shaped mine and my brothers life in ways we could never have imagined. Mum, was a go getter in life, she took every opportunity that came her way and I know she’d be our biggest support in this crazy adventure.”
The mums aim to raise £2,000 for Leukaemia UK by completing their e-bike epic. Leukaemia is also the most common childhood cancer in the UK, accounting for around 3 in 10 diagnoses.
