Episode 170: Luke Grenfell-Shaw

A Life in Tandem

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He Was Told He Had Months to Live. Then He Cycled 32,000km.

There are bucket lists and then there are bucket lists. Most of us have a vague roster of things we want to do before we die. Visit somewhere, climb something, learn a language. We push it to the back of the drawer and figure we’ll get to it eventually, when the time is right and when life settles down a bit.

Luke Grenfell-Shaw didn’t get that luxury. In 2018, at 24 years of age, Luke was in Siberia teaching English and learning Russian when he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. A tumour the size of a milk bottle under his left shoulder blade and also at least 13 lung metastases. He was given a very poor prognosis measured in months. As if that wasn’t enough, within weeks, his brother John died in a freak accident.

What happened next is one of the most extraordinary stories I’ve had the privilege of sharing on this podcast. And I’m telling you now, before you read another word, go and watch his documentary A Life in Tandem. Watch it twice. You won’t regret a minute of it.

Moving the Body When the Doctors Are Almost Giving Up

One of the things that struck me hardest about Luke’s story was what he did with his diagnosis physically. During his treatment, he got on a stationary bike in the hospital ward. He ran seven kilometres to his radiotherapy appointments and seven kilometres back. He completed a half marathon in 80 minutes while he was still having chemotherapy.

His reasoning was practical as much as it was defiant. There’s real research emerging now that physical activity during chemo can help your body tolerate treatment better, get the drugs to the cancerous tissue more effectively, and support your mental health through what is, frankly, a terrifying experience. Luke also wanted to keep hold of his identity. Cancer strips so much of that away. Being the person on the turbo trainer in the ward was his way of saying, not all of me.

A Tandem, a Purpose, and 800 Strangers

On 1 January 2020, Luke got on a tandem bike in Bristol and started pedalling toward Beijing. The choice of using a tandem was deliberate and deeply thought through. During treatment, he’d come to really appreciate how much his friends and family meant to him. He also knew that once he was fit and out on the road, he’d be at a pace that would make shared riding frustrating for anyone joining him. A tandem solved both problems. Everyone is always going at the same speed.

The original idea was friends and family. Then it became anyone he met. More than 800 people sat on the back of that tandem over the course of the ride, through 30 countries and 32,000 kilometres. Some would join Luke for a day and others for a bit longer. One, the wonderful Dev, turned up in jeans having not ridden a bike in three years and ended up staying for over 1000 miles. I could’ve talked about Dev for a whole episode by himself.

What the tandem created, and what Luke so clearly valued, was depth of experience. You don’t pass through a country the same way when you’re breathing it alongside someone who lives there. You stop for puppies on a Turkish highway with a dentist called Sinan. You ride into a Slovenian vineyard on a whim and end up talking about climate change with the owner. You fall in love with mountains in Kyrgyzstan in a way that wouldn’t happen from a car window.

The Bit Where the Brakes Failed on a Mountain Pass

Kyrgyzstan. Descending at speed. Two people on the tandem. The brake rotor overheating until it was flapping around like a fish. No brakes. Getting faster.

Luke shouted to his stoker Carolyn that the brakes weren’t working. She asked when they should jump. He said now. Neither of them had ever jumped from a moving bike. Carolyn, with significantly better survival instincts, threw herself to the right. The tandem went left. Luke went over the handlebars, missed a roadside barrier by about a foot, and landed in the gravel.

They were cut up and covered in dirt but thankfully nothing was broken. They pushed the tandem to the nearest village, walked into the local medical clinic, and were immediately asked to help move an apologetic man who’d fallen down the stairs before anyone would look at their wounds. Hydrogen peroxide was applied liberally and they spent the rest of the afternoon picking grit out of their own elbows.

This is exactly the kind of story the podcast was created for. Sharing the misadventures inside the adventure. The random thing that could never happen from a car.

Turning 32 When You Didn’t Expect to See It

Luke just turned 32. He posted about it, reflecting on the shift from celebrating each birthday as a milestone he wasn’t supposed to reach, to feeling something closer to ordinary about it. Getting older is a good thing, especially when you were told at 24 that you probably wouldn’t see out the next year.

We talked a lot about identity during our conversation adn how cancer strips it away and how Luke found ways to hold onto it. We also spoke about what comes next for someone who has been defined, publicly and privately, by a story that began when he was 24. Luke is a professional trail runner representing Great Britain now. He’s a filmmaker, he’s a storyteller and is so much more than that cancer diagnosis. Being able to watch him articulate that in real time was one of my favourite moments of the conversation.

Luke finished with the statement that all of our lives are limited. Why should we wait for later to do the things that are really important to us now?

Listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts. And for the love of everything, make sure you watch A Life in Tandem.

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The Seek Travel Ride podcast