Tim Bright lives up to his name. When I first make contact with him, he is 667 miles deep into an attempt to cycle around the nearly 5,000-mile long coastline of mainland Britain on a classic Raleigh Chopper, and the frame on his bike has just snapped. It looks like it could be the end of the road to me, but Bright radiates optimism. To be fair, he has faced much bigger obstacles than this in the past. And he’s still going strong.
In 2016, Bright was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia. The condition is incurable, but these days it can be managed with medication, and once Bright had things under control, he started thinking of ways he could both raise money for cancer charities, and show that he wasn’t about to be beaten by the disease.
Two years after his initial diagnosis, Bright’s father found his brother’s old Mark I Raleigh Chopper, which he had restored, and the seed for what became the ‘Giving Cancer the Chop…per’ challenge was planted.
“Originally I was hoping to do the ride on the old bike,” Tim tells me. “But a mechanic strongly advised me against it… so I got this one.”
Even though he opted for a later, stronger model – a Raleigh Chopper Mrk III, a reissue of the iconic 1970s wheelie bike, launched in 2004 – this steed still definitely isn’t designed to be ridden long distances by full-grown humans. And unlike the Chopper used by actor and DJ Paddy McGuinness during his 300-mile Children in Need ride in 2024, Bright’s machine has not been modified or pimped in any way.
And he is going an awful lot further than McGuinness. As far as is possible on his bike of choice, Bright, who is 57, is following a route posted on Komoot by a rider called Alice Baddeley, who cycled 4,826 miles around the country’s coastline in 80 days in 2022. That’s far from the record (ex-pro rider Molly Weaver set the current FKT on the route last year, racing around the big British loop in just 21 days, 10 hours and 48 minutes in 2025), but then neither Molly or Alice were riding a Raleigh Chopper.
Bright isn’t bothered about time. Although he was hoping to finish by 31 August, which is his 10-year cancer anniversary. But he doesn’t feel that’s likely now, what with the various mechanical issues. This isn’t the first time the frame has snapped, and he has suffered various other tech issues, including multiple busted spokes on the back wheel.
But, by the time I speak to him properly, a friendly welder has been found to fix the frame (while refusing to take any payment), and by the weekend he was back on the road and happily heading towards Wales. “The welded section is now actually stronger than the rest of the bike,” Tim laughs.
(Image credit: Tim Bright)
Tim’s condition will be with him for life, but it can be managed with tablets that he has to take daily. While this is a wonderful development, that gives him a positive prognosis, the pills do have side effects, including brain fog, fatigue and muscle soreness – not really what you need when you’re pedalling a small bike with tiny wheels all the way around the country. As iconic and cool as they are, Raleigh Choppers have a notoriously unergonomic and wildly inefficient set-up, which makes cycling any distance both exhausting and agonising.
Tim left from Cromer in Norfolk on 4 April and travelled south, around the coast. When Cycling Weekly caught up with him, he had just finished rounding Britain’s South West peninsular.
“Devon and Cornwall were brutal,” he admits. “Nothing prepared me for the hills. It was horrible. These things are made for children.” Does he have any regrets, I wonder. “Mainly picking a child’s bike!” he laughs.
So why is he doing it? “I just wanted to show that, even with leukaemia, life doesn’t stop,” says Bright. “No matter how sorry I feel for myself, the world doesn’t care – you’ve got to crack on and do things. If I’d been diagnosed with this before the treatment was available, I’d have been dead 8 years ago.”
Bright tells me that he’s always loved cycling, and with his wife, Sue, has done lots of challenges, such as the Tour of the Broads. “I knew something was wrong with me when I couldn’t keep up with Sue,” he confides.
Sue is by his side for this challenge, too, but in the role of support driver. The couple are paying for everything along the way themselves, and giving every penny of the money they raise to the charity Cancer Research UK.
“The response of the public as we’ve been going around has been heartwarming,” Bright tells me. “I’ve had people do my washing and provide accommodation, all for free.”
“And if anyone wants to come and join me for some of the route, they’re more than welcome!”
To follow Tim’s progress, check out his ‘Giving Cancer the Chop’ Instagram page.
