Christine O’Connell’s Zwift Story of Perseverance and Philanthropy

A transplant from Maryland, USA, Christine O’Connell has lived in the UK for nearly 25 years, working and consulting for a media company and living an active lifestyle traveling and enjoying sport in London.  Christine says she “grew up riding bikes and my father collects vintage Raleigh bicycles, but I would never have called myself a cyclist.”  But she was inspired to ride after watching the 2012 Olympic road race “come through my local park in London.” 

As it seems with most things Christine puts her mind to, cycling quickly became a healthy obsession fueled by an evolving passion, until life presented her with a pothole to bunnyhop.

First Diagnosis (the Fight Begins)

“I had booked a ride across Cambodia, but instead found myself facing a cancer diagnosis, followed by 9 months of treatment – chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy.”  Christine went to the gym every day during treatment, and her friends challenged her with the goal of riding from London to Paris in 2014 to maintain her focus on recovery. 

Treatment completed, Christine’s passion for cycling flourished, and with a rejuvenated body and spirit, she started clocking 200-300k per week, became active in the local cycling club, and completed several endurance challenges. 

“The London to Paris trip, this time in 24 hours rather than 3 days, was a celebration of 5 years clear from cancer, and my team of four raised funds for a local breast cancer support center.”  Again, as with most things in her life, Christine’s dedication to the philanthropic support of cancer victims is extraordinary, and she is presently the director of One More City, a charity she founded that raises funds for research into Secondary Breast Cancer.  Work, cycling, and charity… that’s what kept Christine going! Then another crack in the road, but this one was a chasm the likes of the English Channel.

Yet Another Curve In the Road

“On the 1st of February, 2018, I was cycling to central London to attend a Rapha/Wahoo promotional event to live demo some new turbo trainers, no doubt involving Zwift.” That was the last thing she remembered before awakening in the A&E department of a London Hospital.  Christine was notified she had suffered a seizure and a scan revealed a brain tumor. 

“I do not remember anything about the seizure, nor do I know to this day who called the ambulance, but I am grateful to whomever did so, and made sure that I still had my bag… and my bike.” 

Christine required emergency brain surgery to remove a tumor, the result of advanced ‘Secondary’ Metastatic Stage 4 Breast Cancer, which afflicts 20-30% of breast cancer victims. It comes with another grim statistic: the average lifespan of an individual with this devastating incurable disease is only three years.

An Indomitable Spirit

Christine began Zwifting only a few days after discharge from the hospital and slowly transitioned back to the road.  With remarkable resolve, she regained her premorbid level of fitness by 2019, and completed the Etape du Tour and the Rapha to London challenge, riding 200 miles in a day for charity. 

Christine’s insatiable desire to ride is rivaled only by her quest for knowledge of secondary breast cancer, a misunderstood disease killing women and men daily throughout the world. 

Many miles and conversations later with her mates and Simon Mottram (founder and CEO of Rapha) and One More City was born.  One More City is an annual cycling campaign with a simple ethos, Christine explains, “The journey is never over; we are always progressing towards the next city, there are always more kilometers to travel, more climbs to conquer and more challenges to face.  This is akin to the reality of anyone living with cancer, especially secondary cancer, for whom the challenge is never over; there are always more treatments to endure, more scans to face, more side effects to manage.”

Coping by Giving

One More City has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, with each event starting in the exact location where the previous year’s ride ended, with the aim of funding the education of students pursuing a Ph.D at Imperial College London.  In collaboration with The Institute of Cancer Research, the goal is to create and develop treatment options for secondary breast cancer patients by combining the resources of the UK’s foremost research centers.  The 2020 flagship event was to take Christine’s team 750km in 4 days from Strasbourg to Salzburg.  

Just like that the momentum of Christine’s indomitable fortitude was slowed to a grind, the wind was now in the face of Christine’s uphill ride of life in the form of the global COVID pandemic.  The UK went into lockdown in March and group riding was banned, leaving the future of One More City in jeopardy and confining the immuno-compromised to their homes. “Not being able to cycle outdoors,” Christine laments, ‘the very thing that helps me live with my advanced cancer and the key part of my social life, was extremely hard to accept.”

Enter Zwift – This Time It Was a Savior!

With the help of her fellow RCC ride leaders, Christine set up Zwift Meetups and strived to replicate the social nature of group rides by communicating via Discord.  Within a few days, Christine had organized regular Zwift club rides and One More City training sessions, allowing her and her mates to keep their sights set on Salzburg.  “A number of us also started racing, and we now have over 20 women racing each week in the Zwift Racing League, many of whom have never raced in real life and never would have considered it.”

“I can honestly say Zwift has been a lifesaver for me during this challenging year.  There are many studies suggesting a strong link between exercise and better outcomes for cancer patients, and although it can’t be definitely proven, I feel strongly that cycling has played a key role in helping me live well with my disease.” And Zwift has been an integral part. 

“When people not well-versed in Watopia ask, they often assume it’s something deeply anti-social, when in fact it’s just the opposite.”

Riding On

With every pedal stroke, Christine is widening the gap on the devastating disease which she has dedicated her life to defeating, and forming a break for those afflicted in the future.

“While I don’t think Zwift will ever replace for me the magic of riding in the mountains or discovering new routes, it’s given me a way to connect with the global community and maintain my physical and mental health, which has been invaluable in this most challenging of years.”  

That is saying a lot for this courageous and hero of the breast cancer community, considering she has overcome her fair share of adversity with dignity.  Ride On, Christine.  Ride On!

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