Tom Smith was a Scottish rugby and British & Irish Lions hero. My own father was a hero to me. Both Tom and my dad died from colon cancer. They both ignored the initial signs of the cancer and by the time they were diagnosed, it was too late. This matters to everyone as colon (bowel) cancer is the UK's biggest cancer killer of non-smokers.

I am raising £50k for 40tude to help the continued funding of a full time research fellow at St Marks Hospital in memory of Tom Smith. The research is focused on identifying the genetic causes of colon cancer.

To raise this money I am riding one of the toughest endurance races on the planet. The Transcontinental Race (TCR) is an unsupported bike race from Roubaix in northern France to Istanbul, via 4 checkpoints in Slovenia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Turkey. Three hundred people have qualified for the race and on average only half will finish.

The total distance is 4000 km with 45,000m of climbing. The the pros will finish in 10-11 days but I am aiming to finish in 14 days. The cut off time is 15 days. To do this I will be spending 16 hours a day in the saddle and sleeping only 4 hours a night. Ouch.

My motivation for this madness is simply to cure bowel cancer. Your donation will be directed very carefully also to specific, leading-edge research already making a difference to transforming the early diagnosis and treatment of colon cancer.

Please also visit the 40tude website and look at the symptoms of colon cancer. If you have any of these symptoms, please contact your GP immediately. If colon cancer is detected early it is very treatable.

Thank you very much for helping me to support 40tude curing colon cancer.

You can track my progress and find out more about the race at https://www.lostdot.cc/tcr