Thackley woman's tribute to hospice

“We all cried and said that she was with us and had been leading the way,” says Adele, “We also joked as we rode along some of the hair-raising roads, that she would be telling us to get the next flight home.”

The women had joined an organised bike ride from Pushkar to the Taj Mahal in Agra, to raise money for the Marie Curie Hospice in Leeds Road, Bradford. Staff at the hospice cared for their mum Sheila Morris, who died last August, aged 74, after a long battle with cancer.

A fourth sister, Sue, began training with them but had to pull out after breaking her leg. Sue’s daughter Stephanie did, however, take part.

“The ride was amazing, really life-changing,” Adele says. “The sights and sounds and people – it was all incredible.”

They were part of a 15-strong team who negotiated potholed, rubble-strewn roads along which traffic flew while trying to dodge dogs, cattle and people.

“It was crazy. There was lots of horn-blaring and braking, and dogs lying asleep in the road, and cows coming towards you along the dual-carriageway. There were elephants and monkeys, and small vehicles with massive wide loads. Drivers think nothing of doing U-turns on dual carriageways and driving back the wrong way.”

Less than two years ago, the mum-of-three, who lives in Thackley, could not have imagined cycling across Bradford, let along a slice of the Indian sub-continent. “I did no exercise at all,” she says, “If anyone had told me what I would be doing I’d have thought they were mad.”

Her passion for the sport was sparked by a brief conversation at the hospice, where she worked as a volunteer.

“I was chatting to a nurse and she mentioned the Taj Mahal Cycle Challenge to raise funds for Marie Curie. She said that if you put your mind to something you can do it, and I decided I’d really like to try.”

She thought that as well as raising money, the trip would also help her to get fit and lose weight. So she bought a bike and registered for the challenge, along with her sisters.

Her first outing on two wheels was traumatic. “I set off from home cycled along the canal to Saltaire. When I got there I sat down and cried. I didn’t think I’d be able to get back.”

Her husband Chris collected her. “He has been really supportive – he has to be now that I go off every weekend.”

She adds: “The beginning was tough, I knew I had to lose weight. My legs were rubbing together and I was puffed out.”

Already a member of an online WeightWatchers programme, through which she had lost 10lbs, she switched to a class in her local area.

“I realised that I needed others to spur me on, and at meetings you can show other people what you can do and try to not let them down.” With a combination of WeightWatchers and cycling, the pounds began to fall away.

The sisters prepared for the India trip with rides across Yorkshire. They cycled from Burnsall in the Yorkshire Dales to Bridlington, and took part in an organised ride from Ilkley to Selby.

Training for the trip brought them closer together. “We’ve had a few really good bonding sessions, especially when we’ve been soaking wet and covered in mud. Mum would have loved that. She was a very positive person and inspires us.

“She told us to go for it, and said, ‘You are women of your time.’ She was so excited by the fact that her daughters and grand-daughter were taking part in a life-changing challenge to cycle across India.”

Safely home, Adele feels great. The team raised £60,000 for the hospice, which will help them continue to provide care to patients.

Adele feels great. She has lost almost 3st, dropping from a size 16 to a ten. She now inspires others, heading a number of slimming classes across Bradford.

When the sisters are cycling, their mum is always in their thoughts. “We miss her so much,” says Adele. “The fundraising and training helps us to feel in control when sometimes the grief can take hold and you feel like spiralling downwards. It gives us strength.”

She adds: “Although mum had been seriously ill during the last months of her life, she remained the same cheerful person as ever. She knew that she would not live long but she never let it show. On her final day she was visited by her grandchildren, kissed them all, emptied her purse for ice creams and said her usual ‘love you’.

“Children pick up on bad things but the hospice takes this away and they see it as a positive experience.”

Now the sisters are training for a new challenge in aid of Marie Curie – a trek along the Grand Canyon.

* Adele holds slimming classes in Thornton Road, Queensbury, Baildon, Idle and Glusburn. For details, visit WeightWatchers.co.uk. To sponsor the team, contact adelewilkin@hotmail.co.uk.