Cycling
Saved by Sport: James Golding
How cycling helped one man twice beat cancer and become a world record holder.
Ten years ago, James Golding barely had the strength to lift his head off a pillow as he was bed-bound being treated for an aggressive form of cancer.
Now he's preparing to compete in Race Across America (RAAM), a 3,092-mile cycling race from San Diego, California, to Annapolis, Maryland, which is renowned as one of the world's toughest sporting challenges.
And he's not just riding to take part, he's in it to win it. An unrealistic goal? Not for James, such is the grit and determination of the father-of-two, he's already achieved a remarkable number of cycling feats.
Way of the Wildcard S2EP1- James Golding Art
© Joolze Dymond
These include riding 3,473 miles across America despite being run over by a truck, tackling the Haute Route 'Triple Crown', known as the world's 'highest and toughest sportive', and gaining the Guinness Seven Day Cycling World Record, raising more than £3m for various charities along the way.
It was while recovering from his first battle with cancer that James discovered a love of cycling. The sport not only helped him recover from the disease, but pedal his way to a new positive mindset and a life full of amazing opportunities...
Shocking discovery
James was 28 when he was told he had cancer. The diagnosis came after he had been suffering from excruciating back pain for months – but struggled to get doctors to take him seriously and run tests.
It was only when he was in so much agony that his mum took him to A&E, that a tumour the size of a grapefruit was found in his abdomen. Surprisingly, he said hearing he had cancer was something of a relief.
“I finally had a reason for why I had been in so much pain and I knew it wasn't just in my head,” he explains. “At that point, I was on so many painkillers I was quite spaced out and couldn't really take in what it meant. I had no idea how bad it was going to get. Until then, cancer was something people raised money for charity for, I didn't know much about it.”
The position of the tumour meant it was impossible to be operated on, so he had to have the strongest chemotherapy possible in order to have a chance of survival.
Speaking of the experience, he said: “It's strange, it's this bag of clear, harmless-looking liquid hanging next to your bed – but it's one of the most toxic things you'll ever have pumped into your body. One nurse told me my prescription was the most poisonous concoction she'd ever seen, and they had to wear big, industrial rubber gloves when they were handling it.
Chemo gives you a serious thrashing. It's something you don't feel you can tolerate for much longer, but know you have to
“At first it feels fine but, when it kicks in, everything changes – you can't sleep, eating isn't the same as your tastebuds change. It gives you a serious thrashing. It depleted my immune system so I kept getting infections. I went through stages of having hallucinations and generally felt disorientated, rough, and rancid. It's something you don't feel you can tolerate for much longer, but know you have to.”
The chemo was so effective at killing the cancer, it also killed a number of James' vital cells and tubes, causing complications, including septicaemia and peritonitis, which led to him having emergency surgery, and being placed in an induced coma for two weeks. He then had to stay in a High Dependency Unit for more than a month, where he would have to slowly regain the strength just to be able to wiggle his toes.
In Feb 2009, James was placed in an induced coma for two weeks
© James Golding
“When I first came round, I was so out of it, I couldn't remember what had happened,” James recalls. “I thought I had been in a car crash and couldn't remember anything about the cancer. It was a tough time. Before then, I was a single, young man, who was used to working out at the gym and socialising at weekends.
“Sport wasn't part of my life then but I had a job as a plasterer so I was fit from doing manual labour every day. To go from that to being unable to lift my own head, hooked up to machines to keep me alive, was devastating and terrifying.”
At that time, the cycling goals he now pursues would have seemed ludicrous. Back then, his aim was to be able to go to the bathroom unaided, as it took a number of nurses just to be able to move him to the end of the bed.
He recalls: “If they tried to get me to sit up, I had one in front of me, one behind, another holding the tubes from the machines keeping me alive out of the way. My strength and mobility were at an all-time low. It was a very difficult time.”
James hadn't the strength to sit up unaided – or even wiggle his toes
© James Golding
He said he got through this terrible time by "ticking off each day" and taking it "one step at a time" – a phrase that has since become his mantra.
“No-one expected me to survive. There were many setbacks but I kept pushing through all of them and hoped things would get better.
“I broke it all down: to be able to go to the toilet alone again, which I hadn't done for months, I would have to learn to walk again. To do that, I had to be able to stand up. To be able to stand up, I had to be able to sit up. To sit up, I had to be able to lift my head up. It was a long process so I focused on doing each of those things one at a time.”
When he was eventually well enough to be discharged, one day he saw an old bike owned by a lodger lying around his home in Rugby and decided to go for a ride, having not cycled for years.
It proved to be a huge release – and a revelation.
It gave me a way to escape the treatment and to be active after months of being bed-bound
"I went to the local reservoir and rode for five miles," he explains. "I hadn't felt so free for a very long time. It gave me a way to escape the treatment and to be active after months of being bed-bound, then in a wheelchair and using a zimmer-frame."
He continues: “I kept going out and riding for five miles, it wasn't about getting fitter, it was just about having that freedom and release, and getting away from everything I had been through. It started to feel easier so I decided to do the loop twice, then I realised, if I could do that, I could cycle to my mum's house 10 miles away from my house. So it was a gradual process of going further and thinking, if I can cycle that far now, what could I do next time?”
Charity challenge
He kept on cycling and, after finding out that he was in remission in 2009, decided to set himself a huge physical challenge, to raise money for charity and "give something back" to everyone who had helped him survive.
He set himself the ambitious target of riding from L.A. to Miami (3,473 miles) in around 34 days, raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
At the Atlantic coast, having finally completed his ride across America
© James Golding
He says: "The challenge gave me something to focus on. I wanted to do something that typified what it was to be a cancer patient.
“I wanted to give something back to those who had helped me recover – from the surgeon who gave up a family holiday to the nurse who worked double shifts to ensure I got the care I needed.”
He continues: “I didn't think just going back to normal would be doing the efforts they had put in any justice.”
In terms of preparation for this challenge, he says it was nothing compared to what he does now.
“I wasn't training for it, I was just going out and riding my bike. I wasn't trying to go as fast as I could or be the best, it was just about doing something I loved, and raising money and enjoying myself in the process.
“I prepared by doing an 80-mile sportive in Scotland, then a 120-mile sportive in Wales. Then it was about putting multiple big days together, which led to cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats (874 miles)."
In 2010, James took part in his first sportive – the Etape Caledonia ride
© James Golding
Eventually he felt ready for the ride across America, which got off to a good start. He was “ticking off the days”, cycling with a friend and being tailed by another in a support car. The only setbacks were punctures until he reached New Orleans and disaster struck. He was hit by a truck, breaking three ribs, his elbow, and taking a lot of skin off his hands and legs, bringing the challenge to a horrific end.
But James was in no doubt he would try again once he had recovered.
"I was back in hospital but thought, I have been a lot worse, he admits. "I was determined to finish what I had started, and that meant starting again in L.A., not picking up in New Orleans. I said I would cycle across America and that is what I wanted to do. I went back to the start in L.A. six months later and did it in 24 days, riding 147 miles a day.
“It was hard work but great fun, and completing the distance and finally achieving my goal felt amazing.”
Cancer returns
From the high of completing that ride came another devastating low. Following regular check-ups, James was told his cancer was back, as another tumour had been found in his abdomen, this time the size of a ping pong ball.
I took the opinion that I had survived once, so I could do again
“I couldn't believe it when they told me,” he said. “But I took the opinion that I had survived once, so I could do again. This time it was possible for them to remove the tumour via surgery, so I knew the chemo wouldn't be as bad as it was the first time.”
At this time, James and his partner, Louise, were expecting their first baby. He also had a number of cycling targets lined up that he'd set before his diagnosis. He wasn't going to let cancer stop him achieving any of them.
James and his wife Louise who married in 2013
© James Golding
He carried on training and racing during his treatment, including riding from London to Paris, crediting cycling for helping him make it through each difficult day.
"I was doing something I enjoyed doing and it allowed me to feel like I was taking control of cancer," he explains. "I didn't want it to dictate what I was able to do.
“Yes, the cancer meant I couldn't ride as fast, or feel as good as I did before, but I was still doing it. I was in my happy place."
James taking part in the HotChillee Alpine Challenge in 2011
© James Golding
He adds: “It was hugely beneficial for my mental health at that time too – it still is. Nothing beats the feeling of a good day on the bike.”
Did his enhanced physical fitness the second time around help him beat the cancer?
“I don't know,” he admits. “But I did shock a few of the doctors and nurses with my low resting heart rate!”
In some respects cancer was one of the best things that ever happened to me because of the knowledge it gave me of life. Before I was alive, now I am living
In May 2012, he was given the all-clear again and, while the cancer had gone, his love for cycling remained, along with a positive mindset and new outlook on life.
"In some respects, cancer was one of the best things that ever happened to me because of the knowledge it gave me of life, as well as the people I've met," he says. “Before I was alive, now I am living.
“Then finding cycling was equally the best thing because of the opportunities it has given me. I have travelled all over the world on my bike."
Record breaker
In 2015, James completed one of amateur cycling racing's toughest events, the Haute Route.
There are three week-long events that take place in the Pyrenees, the French Alps, the Swiss Alps and the Dolomites, each climbing to elevations of around 22,000m per event.
James has completed nine Haute Routes – the world's toughest cyclosportives
© Joolze Dymond
James decided to do what's known as the 'Triple Crown', cycling all three of the challenging courses back-to-back over 21 days, with a total climbing of 65,500m.
“The Haute Route is arguably one of the best events in the world," says James. "It's not just physically tough, it's all-round hard work: three mountain ranges, roughly 800km a week and around 22,000m of climbing per event. On top of that you're moving hotels and locations every day, the weather can change in minutes and you need to think about taking on food for fuel.”
Despite how arduous it was, he was in his element. “I loved it, by the end of the three weeks you're in such good shape you don’t want it to end,” he said.
While James has ridden up and down many of the world's highest mountains, one of his biggest cycling achievements was actually accomplished on his own doorstep.
He broke the Guinness Seven Day Cycling World Record in 2017 by riding 1,766.2 miles around Rugby (that’s around 240 miles a day, roughly London to Paris everyday for a week), after trying and failing to do it once before in 2014.
James' second record attempted coincided with a summer heatwave
© Joolze Dymond
“There were some tough moments, particularly due to the hot weather, but I just stayed focused on the goal and kept pushing. I was delighted to get the record,” he says.
Best yet to come
While many people would be content with any of James' achievements so far, he admits they are all just smaller goals on the path to his big one – Race Across America (RAAM). “All my challenges in recent years have been building up to RAAM in 2020 [now postponed to 2021],” he says. “Not just in the sense of preparing my body and mind for it, but also in attracting sponsors to support me."
Met by his first crew during day one of Race Across the West 2019
© Joolze Dymond
It has long been his dream to compete in RAAM, where he will have to ride 3,000 miles virtually non-stop across challenging terrain. Finishing is the pinnacle of endurance cycling – many who start the arduous journey in Los Angeles drop out long before the finish because the going is so tough. Competitors pass through 12 states and climb over 170,000ft, facing all weather extremes along the way.
It is 30 percent longer than the Tour De France and there are no stages or rest days. Competitors are against the clock from the start, making it the world's longest time trial. "It's about seeing how deep you can go, how far you can push yourself," says James. "More people have climbed Everest than completed RAAM, which brings home how difficult it is."
More people have climbed Everest than completed RAAM, which brings home how difficult it is
And James has made it even more challenging by aiming to win it – something no other Brit has done before.
In preparation, in June 2019 he completed Race Across the West – a qualifying event for RAAM which follows the first 930 miles of the RAAM course. He finished third and was slightly disappointed with this result.
“I wasn’t unhappy with how it went but I wasn’t happy either,” he muses. “I should have done better but I learned a lot. I now know what I need to do between now and the race in June [in 2021].”
Taking a pit stop in Blyth California, during RAW 2019
© Joolze Dymond
This means training as hard as possible until Christmas, then “living like a Buddhist Monk” from January.
“It’s insane,” he admits of his goal, but he believes in himself – something he says we should all do more often.
“We all find excuses, we always could have done more training and talk ourselves down but now I talk myself up,” he says. “We all once dragged ourselves across the floor, pulled ourselves up on the furniture and fell down, just to do it again. We all went through that process of learning to walk but with no knowledge of failure. We don't credit ourselves enough for what we have already achieved.”
I think sport is a key thing we should all have as part of our lives
Get on your bike
James hopes to inspire other to discover the joys of cycling
© James Golding
Away from the challenges he’s still taking on, cycling remains simply a pleasure James wouldn't be without.
He’s planning to help others discover the joy of the sport by setting up a cycling retreat in Portugal, where he has moved with his now wife, Louise, and their two children, Freddie and Lilah.
He says of what cycling means to him: "I enjoy riding a bike. For me, it's freedom, escape, recovery, mind-process, meditation.
"I eat better, sleep better and it makes me a better husband and father. I think sport is a key thing we should all have as part of our lives."
He hopes his experience can inspire others, whether that's just to get on a bike and pedal to the shops, or to take on a race they think is beyond them.
"We all have the ability to achieve what we want but often we don't remember what we have been through to get to the point we are in," he says.
For James, cycling is a form of meditation and escapism
© Joolze Dymond
"I went from riding round the local reservoir to riding across America in a short space of time. In just over 10 years, I’ve gone from having less than a five percent chance of survival, unable to lift my head off a pillow and learning to walk again, to being a Guinness World Record holder, aiming to be one of the best long-distance cyclists in the world. Don’t tell me it can't be done, as my nan used to say, 'There's no such word as can’t'.”
