Fighting cancer: racing bike hero Philipp Markgraf (33), Florianópolis (BRA)
Philipp has found his way back into life with his project Pedalskillcancer.
Philipp studies architecture in Dresden and has been cycling for two years. He is newly married when his life changes abruptly in 2014: the then 24-year-old is diagnosed with cancer. A germ cell tumour in an advanced stage. A doctor tells him that if he had come in a fortnight later, they would not have been able to help him. Philipp had put off going to the doctor for a long time because he thought it was a viral disease. "At some point, the pain was so bad that I could no longer walk properly." He has been in oncological and urological wards in Dresden almost continuously for over nine months. He is only rarely allowed to go home in between - the longest stretch is 56 weeks in hospital without interruption. He receives chemotherapy in various cycles and then undergoes surgery. He describes this time not only as a burden, but also as one that gave him a "spiritual experience". "I realised what transience means, what my life means, that I have no certainty about how long I will live."
In a wheelchair without power
During the operation, it turns out that the tumour is not just dead tissue. The doctors therefore advise him to have another cycle of chemotherapy. "I was devastated at the time after the operation - not mentally, but simply physically. I was in a wheelchair and could barely stand up. I made the decision for myself that I wasn't going to follow this advice. I wanted to go my own way." Not because he has given up the fight, but on the contrary: because he wants to make the most of every minute he has left: "The illusion we have is: 80, 82 years of life expectancy, that's the account I have. In my experience, we don't know that. But then this day tomorrow or this day now becomes so extremely important that nothing else really matters." He describes this realisation, which he had in hospital, as a key moment that changed his life. "This experience resonates with the fact that spiritual freedom is infinite." He describes this as the starting point for everything that followed. Firstly, he decided against a new chemo cycle and wanted to return home. There, his mother supports him and ensures that he regains his strength with a "kind of vegan diet". He goes from a wheelchair to walking and is soon able to go jogging again and finally gets back on his bike. After six months, he is as fit as he was before the cancer "and that was just the starting point for a journey that was so incredible that at some point I decided to tell the story. Maybe there are people who can imitate this as an encouragement from a similar situation."
Bicycle opens up new freedom
Under the title "Pedalskillcancer", he starts an Instagram account and collects donations for German Cancer Aid and cancer research. For him, the bike is also a means of rediscovering his freedom. "When you cycle up an Alpine pass for the first time, you think you'll never manage it in your life and then you do. Then you have this feeling of having left your own limits behind and rediscovered them." Philipp uses the bike for "physical, physical, sporting development." He describes the experience of illness as a spiritual experience and so he chooses a country that fascinates him for his big cycle tour: India. His goal: to cycle from Germany to India over the world's highest mountain passes. After 12,000 kilometres and nine months on his bike, he was attacked in Iran in 2019. He had to abort his journey with multiple broken jaws. In Iran, however, he is met with a wave of sympathy - people are horrified by the act of muggers. After a break to recover, he resumes his journey, only to be thwarted by the ice-covered winter and later by the coronavirus lockdown.
The fascination of ultracycling
He has since discovered the fascination of ultracycling races and likes the "adventurous character". In 2021, he is riding the Silk Road Mountain Race in Kyrgyzstan with a friend - a bikepacking race covering 1,850 kilometres and 34,000 metres in altitude. His story of his successful fight against cancer also fascinates others and so there is a documentary film about his participation in the race. Covering long distances on his bike in bikepacking mode, organised by himself, became his new passion: "The more hours in the saddle - the better." He now lives in Brazil, where he works freelance on architectural projects and spends a lot of time on his gravel bike and road bike: "There are such beautiful regions to ride in here." On the one hand, he wants to encourage people with his Insta presence and his public actions - on the other hand, he doesn't want to be a role model: "My social media presence is a kind of self-observation diary and if someone wants to take advice or whatever out of it, that's completely their own decision. I don't want to be an influencer who says live this way or that way." He would also never describe himself as a racing bike hero. Philipp has continued to have regular check-ups to make sure the cancer doesn't come back. There are no signs of this so far and therefore the probability is relatively high that he has won the battle against cancer. "Basically, I live in such a way that I can say: Ok, if it comes back tomorrow, then I've had the best time so far that I can guarantee."
In keeping with the theme, our nutrition tip: vegetarian Recipes for cyclists.
Kristian Bauer
Editor
