Man raises thousands for cancer charity in one-day 200km bike ride

A man has raised nearly £9,000 to support people with breast cancer after his partner received a devastating cancer diagnosis.

Toby Lock, 28, from Herne Hill, recently cycled more than 200km in one day in a fundraising ride in honour of girlfriend Lucie Simpson and to raise funds for Guy’s Cancer Charity.

In February this year, Lucie received the heart-wrenching news that she had breast cancer at 27 years old. She was referred to a team at the Guy’s Cancer, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and quickly began treatment.

Lucie has had five months of chemotherapy before a double mastectomy, and is currently undergoing radiotherapy at the Cancer Centre at Guy’s.

Following her surgery, treatments and medications, Lucie’s care team are positive about her future, and she has recently been able to socialise with friends and begin getting on with her life again. 

Lucie said: “Although being diagnosed with cancer was such a devastating time, the care I received really was above and beyond anything I was expecting. I’ve never felt more cared for. 

“I really want to say a huge thank you to the nurses. Everyone involved in my care was fantastic, but the nurses were phenomenal. I actually miss going in for my chemo.

“Toby has been so supportive. All the care he’s given me has been amazing, but the fact he wanted to do more to raise money is incredible. I’m blown away by how much money has been raised.”

For Toby, he wanted to fundraise for Guy’s Cancer Charity to show his appreciation for the care Lucie has received, but also to ensure that the team can continue to help as many people as possible in similar situations.

He said: “Despite it being such a devastating time, the care Lucie has received has been amazing, and the team at Guy’s Cancer have made the journey so much easier.

“We just wanted to give back for all of the care that Lucie has had. If fundraising in some way helps someone else to get the cancer treatment that they need, that’s the end goal.”

As a keen cyclist, Toby wanted to do something that would be challenging for him and his friends who also took part.

He came up with the idea of cycling from their home in Herne Hill to St Albans in Hertfordshire, where Lucie is from, to Devizes in Wiltshire, where he is from, and nicknamed the ride “Tour De Luce”.

Toby said: “I’ve been cycling for a few years now but nothing like this before. I did a lot of training before the day so it was doable, but it was still really difficult.

“We had friends and family waiting for us at the finish line,which was amazing. We were so full of adrenaline after we finished, then about an hour later we all completely crashed.”

Toby is already looking at turning Tour De Luce into an annual fundraising event to benefit those affected by breast cancer.

To donate to Toby’s fundraising, visit his JustGiving page.

Pictured top: Toby and the cycling team out on tour (Picture: Guy’s and St Thomas)