'It’s not just a nice activity, it is to stay alive and well': Cork woman making cycling a key weapon in cancer fight

A Cork woman who has battled cancer believes cycling from her home in Cobh to the city every day helped her beat the life-threatening condition and is calling for more supports for the activity

Susan Lanigan cycles from Cobh to Cork University Hospital on her ebike for medical appointments.

The Irish Cancer Society highlights that regular physical activity helps to protect against some types of cancer coming back and other types of cancer developing.

“From my point of view, it’s not just a nice activity, it is to stay alive and well,” said Susan. 

“I come east from Cobh. I get the ferry, and I use the entirety of the Passage West Greenway, through quiet routes on to Cork University Hospital." 

She follows a route posted online by a Youtube.com account called Relaxcycle.

“That’s how I get about, on my ebike. I was lucky in that about a year ago, I was healthy at the time, I was looking for a cargo bike where I could bring my son to school. One that had a good battery. So I got a bike to work grant.” 

Susan’s bike is a foldable Tern Vektron s10 that she can fit in the boot of a car, very handy for attending those medical appointments. 

“It’s handy for chemotherapy return trips, because you might be up for cycling out, but you wouldn’t necessarily be up for cycling back. 

"You can fold it up, put it in the boot and off you go.” 

Susan said the Irish Cancer Society is very good for organising volunteer drivers.

“I think it is a shame that somewhere like the CUH doesn’t have much in the way of bike parking. Especially since it’s been established that exercise is the killer app for cancer recovery.” 

Regular exercise gives her extra energy, but on days when the chemo does drain her, she can turn the ebike up to ‘turbo’ and let the machine do the work. 

“I live in a very geographically demanding place, with hills all over the place.” 

 Susan can’t use public transport at present for immunity reasons, meaning if she chooses to cycle, she has to cycle all the way.

Formerly a Green Party area representative, Susan is calling for the greenways around Cork to be joined up. 

“It’s slowly dawning on people how important exercise is to recovery.” 

All the indications are that Susan will fully recover. The latest scan shows she is now cancer free, with no evidence of any spread. 

“All I have to do is just take the rest of the medicine. It’s really just to prevent any recurrence.” 

The experience of battling cancer has given Susan a new perspective on life, and not to take anything for granted. Cycling has been central to Susan’s recovery: just before she was due to have her surgery, she embarked on sections of the EuroVello 1, a popular Atlantic Coast Route running from Norway to Portugal.

“I would do 50 to 80 kilometres at a time. The surgeon was like, ‘I love the way you go off on your bike’,” laughs Susan. “You don’t have to wait until active treatment is over. You can get on your bike, knowing your own strengths, while of course getting proper medical advice.”