Inaugural Tour de 4 is tailored to individuals’ physical abilities and aims to challenge assumptions about stage 4 cancer
Mel Erwin is pragmatic about what it took to get her on a bike. “I have one and a half lungs. I’m on a treatment drug. I don’t identify as sporty. I wouldn’t have done it without a goal.”
This Sunday the 57-year-old will roar up the Campsie Hills north of Glasgow in a “camp as Christmas” sparkly cape alongside her partner, Sarah, and 3,000 other participants.
It’s all part of the inaugural Tour de 4, a charity ride conceived by Sir Chris Hoy with the aim of challenging assumptions about those living with stage 4 cancer.
The roaring is literal: during months of training, Erwin has found vocalising “really helps” on steeper inclines. And the pink and gold sequins encapsulate the spirit of celebrating each day woven through the event, a hallmark of Hoy’s approach to his own stage 4 prostate cancer.
