Why a brain cancer survivor rode 1,000km: meet Masters champion Ross Bowles

Imagine riding 100 kilometres a day, 10 days straight. That’s a challenge for many people, but for a trained cyclist, it’s eminently doable.

Now, imagine riding that after having a tumour removed from your brain.

Sydney cyclist Ross Bowles achieved that remarkable feat last week, raising awareness and funds to find a cure for brain cancer.

Bowles, 63, and his friend Andrew Thomas – both from the Harlequin club – rode over 1,000km throughout Sydney and the New South Wales Central Coast, visiting specialists, researchers, and treatment facilities as part of his personal initiative, the Riding for Brain Cancer challenge.

A forgotten disease

In 2013, Bowles underwent surgery for a malignant grade III oligodendroglioma – a rare and fast-growing type of tumour that kills about two out of three people within five years after they are diagnosed with the disease.

He counts himself among the lucky survivors, but he’s frustrated about the slow progress of brain cancer research – especially when compared to more well-known forms of cancer.

“The longevity of people with brain cancer, the statistics haven't improved in 40 years,” says Bowles.

“If you look at all the horrible things like breast cancer: now, 92 per cent of breast cancer patients – it's a horrible, horrible, horrible disease – but they survive more than five years. Leukemia was a death sentence. Now, pretty much, you will survive. So, many of those things have gotten better outcomes.”

Ross Bowles (left) and Andrew Thomas. (Photo: Joe Ward)

Brain cancer, in contrast, seems to be one of the forgotten diseases.

“I think one of the misconceptions of it in society is that, ‘we don’t hear too much about brain cancer, so it must be rare.’ But it’s certainly not rare for those who get it, and it’s more because there’s not enough foot soldiers like me to wave the flag and say, ‘hang on, this is happening,’” he says.

“It’s ridiculous that the awareness is not there. So, the message for me is to get the awareness out there: that it is a horrible disease that’s not rare. It’s just that people die, and they die quicker than they’re saying about it.”

He says a lot more work must be done to bring those numbers down.

“Government are putting in a lot of money,” says Bowles. “They’re putting in millions, which is great, but you need a sustained research program that doesn’t get set up and then cut down again.

“It needs to be sustained, and it could be ten years or more.”

“I’m not brave”: how cancer changes a life

Ten years ago, cancer took Bowles by surprise. It struck while he was cycling on the Central Coast.

“I had no warning. My wife looks back now and thinks, ‘yeah, he was a bit weird there for months, six months beforehand’, just in my reactions and grumpiness and things,” Bowles recalls.

“In the end, I had a seizure while I was riding. Luckily, I didn't get run over by a bus. I was out in Brooklyn and riding up a hill and my brain just started to shut down. I just kept riding until eventually I fell off.”

After surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, Bowles defied the odds and has continued to live a full life.

He kept cycling, even winning Masters national titles and competing for Australia at the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships.

“I'm able to race. I got back to fitter than ever. I've been to a few world titles, and state and Australian championships, so I’ve done better than I probably thought. So, it's been really good,” he says.

But the cancer has left an indelible mark on him and on his loved ones.

“I've got a legacy from the radiation, which means that I don't stop talking, my moods have changed. My wife explains it really well, about how it's affected our family and our son, and what it meant that suddenly she became a full-time carer. Where’d that come from? I didn’t even think about that.”

“I get told how brave I am. I'm not brave. It’s the people who are supporting me who are the brave ones. I just turn up and get treated.”

Listening to Bowles tell his story, one can’t help but grasp a sense of deeper philosophical contemplation. He says cancer has changed the way he sees the world, making him more understanding of other people’s struggles.

“I do appreciate the fact that in any kind of situation, there are worse people off. I wouldn't say I’m the most empathetic person around, but I do believe I've changed considerably,” he shares.

“I can have someone abuse me on the bike, you know, a car driver will abuse you, and you know what? They’ve probably on a bad day. It’s not the end of the world. They might have had something go wrong.

“So, I think my viewpoint on life has certainly improved, and I'm probably just getting older. I can accept things that this is how things are, and I'll just be okay with it.”

Making the most of his luck

Bowles incorporated his 1,000km challenge into Bike Ride for Brain Cancer, an initiative of the Brain Cancer Collective.

The ride raised more than $175,000 overall, smashing its goal by $25,000, with Bowles’ efforts alone contributing over $18,000.

It was an eye-opening experience for Bowles, not least because of the stories he heard about fellow patients.

“You mix with people who have been exposed to worse situations than I have,” he says.

“I'm extremely lucky to be alive after 10 years. I'm lucky because the type of brain cancer I had is not as aggressive, and it responded fairly well to treatment.

“The normal thing … is someone's had brain cancer and they’re dead in a year. Glioblastoma multiforme, it's just the most aggressive and horrible, and there is no thinking that you might extend the life of someone other than for a few weeks or a month or so.

“The average norm from diagnosis is only 15 months, and there are many people you’ll hear of who are much shorter than that once they’ve diagnosed it. It's a really horrible disease.”

End of Day 1, Bike Ride for Brain Cancer, (Photo: Joe Ward)

Through his rides and his website, Bowles is using his good luck to make a positive change. That change is being felt across the Sydney cycling community, as Shane Mattiske, president of Randwick Cycling Club, explains.

“He's someone who, despite the adversity he's been through, has got a really positive outlook on life, and he just takes a lot of joy from his ability to be out riding and training,” says Mattiske.

“Whilst he's had some great successes on the bike over the last few years, he's someone very much down to earth, very much connected, and someone who just really wants to do something for the community around him.”

Mattiske also took part in the Bike Ride for Brain Cancer. He says a champion like Ross Bowles brings the community together.

“He's the sort of person that's carried a whole lot of people like myself along with him.

“It's a cause that has touched many of us, and it's a cause that we want to do something to address, so this ride's really been a case of the cycling community coming together centred around some individuals like Ross, but really, to raise money for an important cause.”

To donate to the Brain Cancer Collective, or to learn more about Ross Bowles’ story, visit his website: ridingforbraincancer.com.au