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Cycling 32,000km After Stage 4 Cancer. A life in Tandem with Luke Grenfell-Shaw

Season 4 Episode 170 Published 4 months ago
Description

In 2018, at 24 years of age, Luke Grenfell-Shaw was given a stage 4 cancer diagnosis and told he had months to live. Within weeks, he also lost his brother John in a freak accident. Most people would have pulled the covers up. Luke signed up for a half marathon, hopped on a stationary bike in the hospital ward, and started planning to cycle from Bristol to Beijing.

On 1 January 2020, Luke set off on a tandem bike. Over the next few years he rode 32,000 kilometres through 30 countries, with more than 800 different people taking a turn on the back seat. Some were strangers he met on the road. Some were friends and family. One was a puppy named Tarzan. The ride became the award-winning documentary A Life in Tandem, which you should watch immediately after listening to this episode.

In this episode we talk about:

- What it feels like to be diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at 24

- Why Luke chose a tandem over a solo bike and what that decision changed

- The science behind exercise during chemotherapy and what the research now says

- Dev, the Indian man who turned up in jeans, hadn't ridden in three years, and became Luke's longest-serving stoker

- The brake failure at 50mph on a Kyrgyzstan mountain pass that ended in a medical clinic 

- Tarzan the puppy of Uzbekistan (fate: unknown but probably fine)

- The post-adventure blues, identity after big goals, and what it means to turn 32 when you once didn't expect to see it

- Luke's definition of a 'canliver' and why he prefers it to 'cancer survivor'

- What it means to be a professional trail runner representing Great Britain, and what comes next

Luke Grenfell-Shaw is a professional trail runner representing Great Britain, adventurer, filmmaker, and speaker. His documentary A Life in Tandem is available to stream now.

Links:

- A Life in Tandem documentary 

- Luke's website and Instagram

- Best Foot Forward short film (Luke and Dan in Sichuan): 

If this episode moved you, please share it with one person who needs to hear it. And then watch the film. 

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