Jane Tomlinson wants people to know that even someone with terminal cancer can live a full life. That idea brought her to the US to ride her bicycle cross-country.
Since doctors diagnosed the 42-year-old mother with metabolic breast cancer six years ago and gave her six months to live, she's been competing in marathons and triathlons, sometimes while undergoing chemotherapy.
The US bike tour, which ended in New York City last week, doesn't sound like her favorite challenge.
“Probably I wouldn't have come if I'd have realised quite how bad it was going to be,” she's quoted in the Guardian Unlimited. “I thought it was going to be a bit of an adventure, but it turned out to be a bit of an ordeal.”
The British press covered Tomlinson because she is a resident of the UK. Her bike trip got very little attention in the US.
Difficulties
I last checked as she reached the halfway point of the trans-America journey. Things were not going well: She'd suffered through 100-degree desert heat, headwinds, mountain ranges, and a Colorado state trooper who told her to ride on the shoulder. Someone through an empty soda bottle at her, and she'd been peppered with tar and chip.
Heading east, she was harassed by dogs. “We've been tense and scanning the properties as we approached to see where the dogs were running free,” she's quoted in the Guardian.
Different friends and supports rode part of the route with her, and her husband followed in a support van.
In addition to raising awareness about the capabilities of terminal cancer patients, Tomlinson launched the bike ride to raise $2 million for cancer charities in the US and UK.
According to husband Mike's blog, Tomlinson was exhausted at the end of the 4,200-mile ride. They cancelled the celebrations in New York and headed straight back to the UK.
Here's hoping that she achieved all her goals in this ride.
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