Christine’s story
Photo credit - Richard Lewisohn
One More City was founded by Christine O’Connell, a keen cyclist, following her diagnosis with secondary breast cancer. Christine was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and underwent extensive treatment. In 2017, to mark five years post diagnosis, she and three friends cycled from London to Paris to raise funds for a breast cancer support service.
The ride was such a success that they decided to do it again in 2018, but in February 2018, while cycling through London, Christine suffered a seizure which led to the discovery of a brain tumour and a diagnosis of secondary breast cancer.
As she learned more about her diagnosis, Christine was struck by the relative paucity of research funding for secondary breast cancer compared to primary breast cancer and the team decided to focus their fundraising on innovative research, specifically Ph.D. students conducting research into secondary breast cancer.
Despite ongoing treatment, Christine keeps turning the pedals, and regularly clocks up over 10,000 kilometres annually. Cycling aided her recovery from breast cancer treatment in 2013 and remains her outlet for coping with the challenges of secondary cancer.
“My hope is that one day we will be able to say cancer is a chronic disease that you can live with and live well with. I think this is a realistic hope. Curing cancer is of course the ultimate goal but the more I learn about the complexity of treating cancer in its multiple forms, the more I have tempered my hopes. “I am proud to say that through the One More City campaign we are funding future scientific talent who we hope will play a key role in improving the lives of people with cancer.”
To read more about Christine’s story, see the Rouleur article and her blog. A full gallery of One More City rides can be found here.
One More City & Rapha Cycling Club
The name ‘One More City’ came from a meeting Christine had with Rapha founder and CEO Simon Mottram. As they discussed the concept of a perpetual ride, Simon emphasised the importance of a compelling name and brand, and the discussion did not finish until an appropriate name had been identified. One More City is grateful for the advice and support of Simon and Rapha in getting the ride off the ground and we continue to work with Rapha to produce our wonderful annual kit collections.
One More City would not exist without the Rapha Cycling Club (RCC). Many of our participants & supporters are members of the RCC global community.
