A father-of-two with incurable blood cancer will cycle 500km from his hospital room in near complete isolation over the next three weeks in a bid to fund a cure.

Mark Harrop, from Teddington, was diagnosed with myeloma, a rare incurable blood cancer which kills 3,000 people each year in the UK, back in March after months of unexplained sluggishness, nosebleeds and constant infections.

The 61-year-old has since received chemotherapy and is about to undergo a stem cell transplant, which will see him hospitalised for three weeks from Monday 18 September at the London Clinic.

While recovering from the gruelling procedure in nearly complete isolation, over the next 21 days, Mark, an avid cyclist, plans to tackle an epic virtual 500km ride (the equivalent of cycling from London to Paris) on a state-of-the-art Wattbike static bike he’s had specially delivered to his hospital room.

He hopes to raise £5,000 for blood cancer charity Myeloma UK towards vital research into new treatments and, ultimately, a cure.

He said: “For me cycling is a kind of treatment – it lifts everything up. It’s been such a big part of my life.
“I had never heard of myeloma until I got it. I thought it was a ‘melanoma’ spelling mistake. I wanted to do something that raised awareness and also show others in the same situation that you can carry on doing the things you love doing.”

He added: “The transplant process completely wipes out your immune system, so I will be in the isolation unit until I’ve started to recover, and things are at least stable.
“I know there will be days when I don’t feel like doing anything at all. Ultimately, I won’t do anything that compromises my recovery, but I think I can do this.
“My consultant Mike Potter has been very positive about my ongoing cycling antics and believes I am capable of the 500km distance without impacting my recovery.”

Myeloma occurs in the bone marrow and currently affects over 24,000 people in the UK.

Despite being the third most common type of blood cancer, it is especially difficult to detect as symptoms, including back pain, easily broken bones, fatigue and recurring infection, are often linked to general ageing or minor conditions.

More than half of patients face a wait of over five months to receive the right diagnosis and around a third are diagnosed through A&E. By that point, many of them are experiencing severe or life-threatening symptoms.

While it is incurable, myeloma is treatable in the majority of cases. Treatment is aimed at controlling the disease, relieving the complications and symptoms it causes, and extending and improving patients’ quality of life.

Mark had been feeling sluggish and exhausted for months, struggling to keep up with his cycling group, but put it down to “winter malaise”. Getting COVID didn’t help matters but he soldiered on. When his symptoms worsened in March 2023 and he suffered from a second bout of COVID, he consulted his GP.

He feared he may have long-COVID. The possibility of cancer, let alone incurable cancer, never crossed his mind.

He said: “My regular rides were inexplicably slower and taking longer. And when I finally got home, I was completely wiped out. I put it down to the usual winter malaise, cold and wet weather, heavy steel bike, layers of winter clothing – and too many mince pies. And I was constantly ill.
“I was having nosebleeds that would never really heal. I went up to Yorkshire in March to ride with a friend of mine and I was on my knees, I couldn’t do it. We had to turn back.
“Another bout of COVID was the final trigger I needed to seek medical advice. I thought I probably had long COVID, but as it turned out, I didn’t.”

Something was wrong with his blood test results.

Soon he was told he had myeloma. It was incurable.

“Yes, it’s incurable and it will come back again but I’m hoping to get 10/15 years with it, and to get my life back completely for a period of time,” he said. “It’s my new reality. I have a new North and South. I would rather not have it, but I know I can live with it. By the time it comes back again the treatments will have moved forward dramatically. Efforts like mine help to provide the vital funding and that’s why I’m doing this.”

Since getting diagnosed Mark believes he’s taken around 1,180 tablets, which he said, “is a lot for someone who avoided even headache tablets”.

While many patients are left emotionally and physically drained by treatment, Mark was determined to hop back in the saddle as soon as possible.

Since being diagnosed, he’s clocked up a whopping 4,000km – 2,800km of them while undergoing chemotherapy.

Keeping up with his cycling as much as possible not only gave Mark a renewed sense of purpose but kept him sane, he said.

“The usual advice for myeloma patients is to avoid cycling,” said Mark, a telecommunications consultant. “The disease thins the bones, and the treatment thins the blood and can make you dizzy – not an ideal combination for the cut and thrust of UK roads. But my bike keeps me sane. I have ridden nearly 4,000km since being diagnosed, 2,800km of which were during the chemotherapy itself.

“Some days I just couldn’t turn a pedal. My Wattbike Atom indoor trainer gave me the option of stepping off on bad days and was a real godsend. I even bought an e-bike to keep me riding when any incline felt like a mountain. I rode 500km on that bike, but when I felt well enough the e-bike went on a hook in the garage and that’s where it will stay if I have my way.”

The idea for the challenge came up when Mark realised he’d be missing Myeloma UK’s flagship fundraiser, the bumper 500km London-Paris Ride.

Undeterred, he hatched a plan to join in – from his hospital room.

A static bike, generously loaned by Wattbike, was delivered to The London Clinic last Thursday ready for Mark’s arrival on Monday.

The father-of-two has raised over £4,500 so far for Myeloma UK.

“Why not ride it virtually if I can’t take part?” he added. “I thought I could keep fit and raise some money for a good cause. Myeloma UK have been hugely supportive since the day I informed them of my plan. In the first few ‘golden days’ at the start, I think I can easily crack out 100km a day. I would like to get 300km done before I start feeling really rubbish. That’s my game plan.”

To support Mark, go to https://www.justgiving.com/page/mark-harrop-1693651618593?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Fmark-harrop-1693651618593&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=pfp-email