Cape Town - Being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015 and having to miss last year’s edition of the Cape Town Cycle Tour (CTCT), Granville Skippers, was not about to give up that easily, aiming to return to the event on its 40 anniversary.
With his cancer under treatment and stable, Skippers, 49, aims to better his best time of under four hours at his 20th CTCT.
“I have hormone treatment to keep my testosterone levels on zero and because of that I have to supplement energy by going to the gym and build some muscle and try to do my best to ride at the pace that I am most comfortable with,” Skippers said about his training regime.
He would also need to change his strategy by making more stops on the way to stay hydrated at all times.
“My personal goal for my 20th cycle tour is to try and finish as comfortably as possible and to prove to myself that I have won this fight and have come full circle to getting back onto my bike.”
Skippers suffered kidney failure as a result of his prostate cancer but has since gotten treatment.
On his journey to recovery, Skippers has discovered what he calls the “new normal”.
“Things may not be back to ‘normal’ but I embraced the ‘new normal’ once the doctors identified it and once I physically and mentally identified it and we carry on from the new normal. Once you’ve accepted that and win that battle in your mind, you’ve basically won that chapter in the race.”
Skippers encouraged all men to go for regular prostate check-ups for any signs of cancer.“I went in 2010 and five years later I was already stage four. Had I gone every year we might have picked this up earlier. It is important to check, not only for your health, but your family’s sake.”