“The idea is to create a positive out of a negative”: Cancer My Arse’s Kev Griffiths on living with stage four cancer, Sir Chris Hoy, and why he’s encouraging everyone to ride out of the saddle for charity

Like Sir Chris Hoy, who last month revealed that he has terminal prostate cancer, Kevin Griffiths is determined to turn his own experience of living with stage four cancer into a positive.

The Stoke-based cyclist, who hails from two of Britain’s most revered cycling families, launched the Cancer My Arse initiative this year after discovering that his bowel cancer was terminal, four years on from initially undergoing treatment for the disease.

Inspired, he says, to “create a positive out of a negative”, Griffiths hopes Cancer My Arse will galvanise a global community of fighters, survivors, and supporters to collectively raise significant funds for cancer research and support services, primarily through one simple, very unique, and rather difficult challenge – cycling out of the saddle for as long as possible.

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The founder of BikeZaar, the online platform uniting independent bike dealers, Kev Griffiths grew up deeply embedded in the world of cycling.

His maternal great-grandparents opened Swinnerton’s bike shop in 1915, his grandparents were national grass track champions, his mother Bernadette Swinnerton a multiple British track sprint champion and silver medallist on the road at the 1969 world championships, and his aunt Catherine a double national road race champion.

Meanwhile, Kev’s father Paul Griffiths wore the yellow jersey at the iconic Peace Race and managed ANC-Halfords at the 1987 Tour de France, a chaotic and ill-fated campaign for the pioneering British team immortalised in Jeff Connor’s classic book ‘Wide-eyed and Legless’.

In 2020, just as BikeZaar was getting off the ground and at the age of 44, Kev was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, which led to sections of his lungs being removed and several rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and saw him undergo invasive surgery that meant he could no longer sit on a bike comfortably (though he managed to squeeze in a few big rides in Mallorca before his operation).

After being given the all-clear, in April this year he was told, following a routine scan, that the cancer had returned, and had spread aggressively to his lungs and pelvis. When 12 weeks of chemotherapy failed to shrink the tumours, Kev was informed that his cancer was now inoperable and terminal.

Following the initial impact of such a devastating prognosis, Kev then turned his attention to what he describes as “doing something good” to “capture the imagination” and raise much-needed awareness and funds for cancer charities.

> Sir Chris Hoy reveals cancer diagnosis is terminal and he has two to four years to live: “I’m feeling fit, strong and positive, and overwhelmed by all the love and support shown”

And like Sir Chris Hoy, who is currently working on a new sportive called the Tour de 4, Kev turned to cycling as his inspiration.

Based on his own inability to cycle in the saddle these days following his surgery – which also inspired the tongue in cheek name of his campaign, Cancer My Arse – he’s challenged the cycling community to ride as far as possible standing on the pedals, with the aim of reaching a combined total of 238,855 miles, which is roughly the distance to the moon, out of the saddle.

In a moving and inspiring interview with the road.cc Podcast, Kev details how he attempted to juggle running a fledgling business with his initial cancer treatment, how he came to terms with his terminal diagnosis, and why he hopes his campaigning – along with the positivity and optimism exuded by Hoy following his own terminal cancer announcement – will change the perception of what life can be like living with stage four cancer.

“I went to the doctors and they were saying, ‘you’re too young, you’re too fit, you’re 44 years of age, you ride a bike, you don’t have a bad diet or smoke, it can’t be cancer, there are so many different other things it could be,” he told the podcast of his initial diagnosis in 2020.

“But sure enough, I went on and had the tests, had a colonoscopy and received those words, you’ve got cancer. I couldn’t quite get my head around it initially.”

Describing the recent news that six-time Olympic champion Hoy’s cancer diagnosis is also terminal as a “shock”, Kev said that the positive reaction to the track star’s announcement will “help shine a light” on the need to look out for symptoms and to encourage people to go for checks – as well as changing the public perception of what it means to be diagnosed with stage four cancer.

“I was having a bit of a ding-dong on LinkedIn a few weeks ago with somebody who referred to Chris and, I guess myself indirectly, as ‘dying of cancer’. And if you looked at either of us today, you wouldn’t say we’re dying,” he told the podcast.

“I’ve just walked eight miles, Chris is riding his bike every day and is in the gym. We've got to change this perception of stage four cancer. I think a lot of people just think you are literally on your last legs, and we’re not.

“We’ve got a lot still to give, a lot still to do. It’s not nice, we’re not trying to hide from the reality of our situations. We know ultimately what this will lead to, so we’re not trying to hide from it or be unrealistic in any way, but it’s certainly about being positive – for our families, our kids, I don’t want them to be thinking that dad’s dying.

“I’m living with cancer. I’m going to fight it. I’m going to take every treatment I can take. I’m going to look after my body, I’m doing all the right things to continue to live.”

> Sir Chris Hoy’s “brave” terminal cancer revelation prompts near sevenfold increase in prostate cancer advice searches, says NHS

Armed with this positive outlook, Kev officially launched Cancer My Arse at a leisure ride organised by PAU last month, attended by none other than Bradley Wiggins and Russ Downing, as he aims to raise money for Action Medical Research for Children, Cancer Research UK, and Bowel Cancer UK by encouraging everyone to ride out of the saddle.

And some are already taking the challenge very seriously.

“There’s a chap called John [Mollart], who runs the Bianchi Owners Club,” Kev says. “He crazily even took his saddle out of his bike, which I would not recommend, just in case you do need to sit down for safety reasons.

“But he actually filmed himself doing 23 or 24 miles out of the saddle, with no saddle even in there.

“I think that just proves what I was hoping this whole challenge would be about. Cyclists, as we know, are generally a competitive bunch and I just thought the level of intrigue – when I spoke to Bradley Wiggins or Russ Downing and said, right guys, how far do you think you could go? And they don’t know.

“They don’t actually know until they go and try it. So some people completely underestimate it, some people massively overestimate it. So I think just that level of intrigue and the fact that you don’t have to go and take part in a 50 mile or 100 mile bike ride, it’s just about far as you can go.

“Whether it’s a mile or five miles or 20 miles, it doesn’t really matter. It’s just the fun aspect and doing something different.

“I think that's what I like about the fact that we’ve set such a ridiculous distance – we’re at about 300 or 400 miles or something at the minute – but it just means it can continue.

“And I would love for Cancer My Arse to go on and continue beyond my time.”

For more information on Cancer My Arse and how to take part, visit cancermyarse.co.uk.

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