{"id":591813,"date":"2026-05-19T04:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T04:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/591813\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T04:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T04:23:13","slug":"think-youre-having-a-tough-week-this-bloke-has-leukaemia-and-hes-cycling-a-childs-bike-around-the-british-coastline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/591813\/","title":{"rendered":"Think you\u2019re having a tough week? This bloke has leukaemia and he\u2019s cycling a child\u2019s bike around the British coastline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tim Bright lives up to his name. When I first make contact with him, he is 667 miles deep into an attempt to cycle around the nearly 5,000-mile long coastline of mainland Britain on a classic Raleigh Chopper<\/a>, and the frame on his bike has just snapped. It looks like it could be the end of the road to me, but Bright radiates optimism. To be fair, he has faced much bigger obstacles than this in the past. And he\u2019s still going strong.<\/p>\n

In 2016, Bright was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia. The condition is incurable, but these days it can be managed with medication, and once Bright had things under control, he started thinking of ways he could both raise money for cancer charities, and show that he wasn\u2019t about to be beaten by the disease.<\/p>\n

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Two years after his initial diagnosis, Bright\u2019s father found his brother\u2019s old Mark I Raleigh Chopper, which he had restored, and the seed for what became the \u2018Giving Cancer the Chop\u2026per<\/a>\u2019 challenge was planted.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOriginally I was hoping to do the ride on the old bike,\u201d Tim tells me. \u201cBut a mechanic strongly advised me against it\u2026 so I got this one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though he opted for a later, stronger model \u2013 a Raleigh Chopper Mrk III, a reissue of the iconic 1970s wheelie bike, launched in 2004 \u2013 this steed still definitely isn\u2019t designed to be ridden long distances by full-grown humans. And unlike the Chopper used by actor and DJ Paddy McGuinness during his 300-mile Children in Need ride in 2024<\/a>, Bright\u2019s machine has not been modified or pimped in any way.<\/p>\n

And he is going an awful lot further than McGuinness. As far as is possible on his bike of choice, Bright, who is 57, is following a route posted on Komoot<\/a> by a rider called Alice Baddeley, who cycled 4,826 miles around the country\u2019s coastline in 80 days in 2022. That\u2019s far from the record (ex-pro rider Molly Weaver<\/a> set the current FKT<\/a> on the route last year, racing around the big British loop in just 21 days, 10 hours and 48 minutes in 2025), but then neither Molly or Alice were riding a Raleigh Chopper.<\/p>\n

Bright isn\u2019t bothered about time. Although he was hoping to finish by 31 August, which is his 10-year cancer anniversary. But he doesn\u2019t feel that\u2019s likely now, what with the various mechanical issues. This isn\u2019t the first time the frame has snapped, and he has suffered various other tech issues, including multiple busted spokes on the back wheel.<\/p>\n

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But, by the time I speak to him properly, a friendly welder has been found to fix the frame (while refusing to take any payment), and by the weekend he was back on the road and happily heading towards Wales. \u201cThe welded section is now actually stronger than the rest of the bike,\u201d Tim laughs.<\/p>\n

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\"Tim\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tim Bright)<\/p>\n

Tim\u2019s condition will be with him for life, but it can be managed with tablets that he has to take daily. While this is a wonderful development, that gives him a positive prognosis, the pills do have side effects, including brain fog, fatigue and muscle soreness \u2013 not really what you need when you\u2019re pedalling a small bike with tiny wheels all the way around the country. As iconic and cool as they are, Raleigh Choppers have a notoriously unergonomic and wildly inefficient set-up, which makes cycling any distance both exhausting and agonising.<\/p>\n

Tim left from Cromer in Norfolk on 4 April and travelled south, around the coast. When Cycling Weekly caught up with him, he had just finished rounding Britain\u2019s South West peninsular.<\/p>\n

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\u201cDevon and Cornwall were brutal,\u201d he admits. \u201cNothing prepared me for the hills. It was horrible. These things are made for children.\u201d Does he have any regrets, I wonder. \u201cMainly picking a child\u2019s bike!\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n

So why is he doing it? \u201cI just wanted to show that, even with leukaemia, life doesn\u2019t stop,\u201d says Bright. \u201cNo matter how sorry I feel for myself, the world doesn\u2019t care \u2013 you\u2019ve got to crack on and do things. If I\u2019d been diagnosed with this before the treatment was available, I\u2019d have been dead 8 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bright tells me that he\u2019s always loved cycling, and with his wife, Sue, has done lots of challenges, such as the Tour of the Broads. \u201cI knew something was wrong with me when I couldn\u2019t keep up with Sue,\u201d he confides.<\/p>\n

Sue is by his side for this challenge, too, but in the role of support driver. The couple are paying for everything along the way themselves, and giving every penny of the money they raise to the charity Cancer Research UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe response of the public as we\u2019ve been going around has been heartwarming,\u201d Bright tells me. \u201cI\u2019ve had people do my washing and provide accommodation, all for free.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if anyone wants to come and join me for some of the route, they\u2019re more than welcome!\u201d<\/p>\n

To follow Tim\u2019s progress, check out his \u2018Giving Cancer the Chop\u2019 Instagram page<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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