Why I Am Taking Part In The Sir Chris Hoy Tour De Four Sponsored Bike Ride

Austin Birks
11 minutes ago
3 min read

One of the odd things about living with a terminal illness like Stage A4 bowel cancer is that it completely changes your perception of life, what is important, and frankly, what is not. When I was diagnosed, everything happened so quickly that I honestly didn’t have time to rationally analyse what was happening to me. Perhaps even more startling was realising just how close to death I actually was.

I remember very clearly waking up in the CCU (Critical Care Unit) and seeing my mum and elder brother Chris coming in to visit me. At the time, I was as high as a kite on morphine and hadn’t got a Scooby-Doo what was going on. I couldn’t work out why my brother, who lives in the north of Scotland, was in Warwick. Other family members popped in too. It was only later that I found out I was, in fact, close to death. The clan had descended because no one really knew if I was going to make it. As they say, ignorance is bliss. For me, it certainly was.

Fast forward from my diagnosis at 10:57 am on Thursday, 15 September 2018 to today in 2025. What have I learned about myself and life? The most vital commodity we all have is time, and it is about what we choose to do with it. Most of us, myself included before cancer, simply took it all for granted. As Ronan Keating famously sang, we never consider “If tomorrow never comes.” Why? Because we just assume we are immortal. Let me tell you, we are not. Living with cancer makes you realise that every day is a bonus.

You have simple choices: embrace each day and the opportunities it brings, or do very little, or nothing at all. Wasting valuable time feeling sorry for myself or watching the clock tick by with daytime TV was never an option for me.

Cancer has inspired me to do the opposite. It has pushed me to embrace new experiences and activities that I would never have bothered with before.

So, in no particular order:

Writing www.thebagforlife.co.uk, which contains blogs, podcasts, and videos
Publishing a book, My Journey, available from Amazon and Waterstones
Giving presentations about living with cancer (videos)
Performing stand-up comedy three times, including twice at the iconic Glee Club in Birmingham in front of 400 people, raising £13,000 for Cancer Research UK
Cycling 300 miles in 30 days to raise funds for cancer charities
Visiting three prisons to talk to inmates about living with cancer and the vital importance of early diagnosis.

There are countless other things I’ve been blessed and able to do. These include my involvement in the world of karate and running my own Shotokan Karate club, Enso SKC, in Birmingham. I’ve also been part of the gym community at Nuffield Health Rubery in Birmingham and worked in different roles, including as CEO of Verita HR Limited in Poland and Disruption Banking Magazine in the UK.

I serve as a Non-Executive Director at uTrack Software Solutions and have contributed to the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, especially within the bus and coach community. I’ve also felt deeply connected to the local community in Clent, where I live. The list goes on.

Which brings me back to the original question. Why am I taking part, alongside my elder brother Chris, in the Sir Chris Hoy Cycle Ride in Scotland on 7 September? First, because I have great admiration for Sir Chris. His humility and courage are deeply inspiring. In addition, both Chris and I are driven to raise as much money as possible for this cruel and indiscriminate killer of a disease that has affected my life so profoundly, and the lives of those around me. It is time to give back.

Not just to the incredible people of the NHS, led by my dear friend and oncologist, Dr Peter Correa, but also to the brilliant team around him who have helped keep me, and many others, alive.

All of these are good reasons. But there is one more, and it is the most vital and simple of all. I am taking part because I can. The good Lord has gifted me the most precious commodity of all: time.

Respect it, my dear friends, and make the most of it.

If you are able to support me and Chris by donating, that would be truly wonderful.

Tempus fugit. Make the most of it, and God bless you all.