[Closed] RIP bullheart

What shitty, shitty news. Never met him but followed his story from the beginning, awaiting each new post with a mix of trepidation and hope. Thoughts with his family, and hopefully they can take some small consolation from the fact that Mark was such a huge inspiration to everyone here and no doubt to many in the wider world.

RIP

Aw bollocks. I never met the guy but followed his story on here over the years and this has brought tears to my eyes. I always thought that ****er was indestructible. What an absolute tragedy. RIP, sir.

Bollocks.

One of the best of us.
Tbh, I'd started to assume he was immortal.

Rest in peace Mark.

Oh bugger. RIP Mark.

Shit. Properly inspirational bloke, sincere condolences to the family and friends. I’m there if they need anything.

RIP bullheart.

Sad news. RIP Bullheart. Inspirational posts on here.

RIP Mark, like most of you here I never had the pleasure but he was one tough mofo and an utter inspiration. STW has lost a legend.

Bollocks. RIP Mark, you went down fighting.

Very sad news - totally inspirational. Thoughts with friends and family 🙁 RIP

RIP Mark, keep on smiling where ever you maybe

Aw, proper shit news.

Rode with him briefly at the Lakes SSUK a couple of years back - RIP Mark

I never knew Mark, but I was inspired and humbled by his posts on here. A remarkable man, a true fighter and the world will be a lesser place without him. Deepest condolences and love to all his family and friends. Rest In Peace Bullheart

Can't think of anything to say other than agree with everything said so far. Never met him, but had complete respect for his outlook and posts on here
Condolences and best wishes to his family

Thoughts to his friends and family.

RIP, thoughts to his family & friends 🙁

Oh bugger, only just seen this. An inspirational guy.

Thoughts to all who loved him.

RIP Bullheart. A real hero and inspiration.

Sad news and condolences to all who knew him

I am truly gutted I coached bullheart years ago and will never ever forget him carrying his bike uphill when he was too tired to pedal it so as to not do it a disservice. Troutie sent me some lights that are still as good today as the day he sent them years ago, he never made it down for the coaching session I promised. Shit shit shit news. Ride on brothers!

Sh*t news

The posts of Mark, whilst in one way horrific, were also fantastically written, enlightening and above all incredibly moving.
I'd always hoped that he'd win out (perhaps he did by getting so many years more than his original diagnosis) but his most recent posts started to share the inevabilty of the situation

RIP Mark

RIP chap and thoughts for your family.

That's properly shite.

Never met the chap but he just seemed to be an absolute legend.

His legacy already has been the posts and mentions of meeting him here...I was chatting to one of his mates jay and we’ve chatted about planning a ride to raise some money for his cancer charity...I’ll share it here when That comes good

Just been re-reading Bullheart's most recent update and through the tears it includes this in response to being called a role model. So if/when people start to come to terms with it all, you might consider sending your experiences to

Yourdadwasthebullheart[at]gmail[dot]com

"That’s very kind fella; I’m not too sure why, but I’ll take it. In fact, if you’re happy to tell me kids this directly, we set up and email address some time ago – the hope was that folk could be as honest and truthful about their experiences with/of/about me – I very much want the process to be honest about me, including negative experiences. My kids need to know he EXACTLY what their father was like, not just some halcyon post – death lyrical love-in.

It can be anonymous,and cannot be edited by me – I don’t even have access to the archive anymore. The only person I trusted who would complete this without prejudice is my old tutor/colleague from the IOE, and the complete owner rights to the email are hers (this is legally confirmed).

So please do feel free to comment in some way about if there has been anything I’ve influenced, as it will hopefully one day will help my two amazing girls understand who their dad really was…"

Just seen the news about Troutie, and now this. 🙁

He was an inspiration.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Sums up Mark precisely. RIP.

Crap. Truly inspirational bloke.

We had the great pleasure of drinking beer and talking shite with him at the singlespeed champs.........I was so glad to finally meet him. He was ever aware of his own mortality, but it is still devastating to hear he has gone.

HE WILL BE SO PISSED OFF.
I'M PISSED OFF.
..........and very very sad.
RIP Bullheart x

Never met him, but he was incredibly strong, and a huge inspiration.

RIP fella.

RIP Mark, thoughts and condolences to his family and friends.

I never knew Mark, but I was inspired and humbled by his posts on here

As as so many have said, this sums up my thoughts. Nice he found the time to post his journey, an inspiration to all of us.

Rest Well.

🙁

RIP Bullheart. You are an inspiration.

RIP indeed. A man whose story is not unique in this life yet someone who inspired others by his honesty and attitude to taking it on. A number of great and moving threads on this very forum. Never met him, but he will be missed.

🙁

I've followed Mark's battle since that first thread.

Anyone who's done the reading knows that his prognosis of foreshortened life was a virtual certainty, but instead of descending into himself and becoming a supplicant to his condition, he accepted the endless rounds of chemo with stoicism and dignity and embraced his life and opportunities with even more vigour and bullishness - appropriate given his bovine implant.

For this, I found him - a man I have never met - someone to admire. Mark inspired me to be braver in my own life in many small ways and I hope that by influencing the life of a stranger, something of his spirit, no matter how small, will endure by what I do, and what I learned from him.

Those who know me well know that I don't believe there is an after-life, but I wish there is, because I will shake his hand and thank him for making me a better man by his example.

I'm off for a little weep now.

Top bloke, met him with elfinsafety in the smoke a fee years ago.

RIP

Met him at one of Phil's Swinley sexyparties many years ago, we went off and got lost at the end to cram in a few more miles of singletrack, seems almost an appropriate metaphor!

Met him again at SSUK'17, he was so matter of fact when I asked how he was doing that I had to question him again what he meant! Still as determined as ever to get as much riding done as possible.

He crammed so much into the last decade, amazing bloke.

That is awful news. Thoughts are with his family.

Met him once when I rode a morning of his John O'Groats - Lands End ride with him and his friends. He still raced up the hills and made some very funny jokes about his cancer.

RIP to one of the good ones.

Absolutely gutted to hear this.

RIP Mark

I didn't meet him, but spoke online to him once or twice. Am gutted.

RIP you fierce tenacious wonderful man.

Somehow it just didn't seem possible he could die, I expected to see him kicking it in the balls forever. Don't know what to say. RIP man

Mark/Bullheart was a true legend, my hero, an inspiration to me & many other people as he lived his life to the full.

I first learnt about Mark from his original post on STW about his potential diagnosis of cancer & I have followed his journey ever since. I was fortunate to meet up with Mark & his crew in August 2010 in a remote lay-by near Okehampton when he was undertaking his John O'Groats to Lands End cycle ride only a very short time around 6 months after his 'Bovine' implant & the chemo sessions a remarkable achievement considering the very unusual circumstances but that was Mark. At that time I too was on my own Cancer journey & in this regard we shared a common bond.

I then met up again with Mark & the rest of Team Bullheart at the 2011 Mountain Mayhem event, an amazing weekend with Mark & the team, with lots of laughs, drinking & riding and it also included Az/Fred Dibnah having a Mohawk haircut 🙂 We followed that up with Team Bullheart at the Bontrager 24/12 in 2011 another fun filled weekend with Mark & Team Bullheart raising much needed money for the Sarcoma Trust. We enjoyed the Bontrager 24/12 so much that we met up for the 2012 event too which sadly turned into a complete mudfest with the biblical rains that weekend 🙂

I was always in awe of Mark & how he never let his condition get in the way of leading his life to the full. He inspired me in my own battle & I am a stronger person for knowing him. Today I shed a tear for the passing of a truly great man & I hope that the great bikeshed in the sky are ready for Bullheart & all his shizzle.

My thoughts are with his wife & two daughters

I met him a few times. Lovely bloke.
Genuinely upset at this.
Rest in peace chap. Love ya.

Gutted to hear the news:-) he was a riding legend in my eyes shared a beer and a chat at SSUK17 I will never forget the guy #bullheart to the end.

RIP Bullheart

Only met him once, yonks ago, incredibly brave fighter and a legend of this forum! Sorry to hear of his passing, thoughts to his friends and family etc.

😞x2

Sad news, he was a fighter all right.

Condolences to his family and friends.

**** cancer - and for the purposes of this thread the swear filter, ban hammer and other such devices.

There is likely very little we can do to help out his wife, family, kids, but if there is then I am sure this forum can pull together for the cause. Sad news.

I first met Mark at Swinley where he was smashing his rear wheel into a dialled bike frame with a rock. I was wearing the decent 07 STW race jersey and we chatted out STW aand I ended up riding for Team Bullheart

We did a team effort at Mountain Mayhem with alot of posters on here. Mark and Az always had an affinity as they shared a similar dark humour and they just semmed to get on. Mark was under going treatment but still gave his utmost , to the point of weeing blood and stopping riding on advise . I rode the final lap for him and will always remember the rest of team cheering me across the line, and Soma-Rich waking me up 1hr early for my night lap.

Then we raced at Bontrager , firstly a dry year , then the wet year. We even had a ringer in the form of 'Sharki' from here who did a very respectable lap. I, as always, supplied the beers and did abit of racing
The wet year was just wet.

Mark went on to be a teacher at my nephews ( the Powerkite Twins ) school. Met him at Swinley again but he was not the same man. All the treatments and drugs were obviously having an effect.
The Ventoux ride report was a draw dropper as I know riders from my roady club who have failed to reach the top

Great guy who I am lucky enough to have met and ridden with .There is an email epitath for his daughters as an electronic book of rememberance. This thread should be added to it.

RIP Mark

Very sad to hear that. His endlessly positive attitude in the face of adversity will be missed.

I've not been on here for a few years but just heard about this.... Such a Shame. I really thought he'd kicked cancers ass... Such an insperation
Rip Mark.

Its a sad day

I like many others never met bullheart but was moved by the thread on here . He remains agreat example to us all.

RIP fellah.

I always marvelled at his sheer stoicism in face of the continual medical challenges he faced which would have the beating of most other people. His story has obviously inspired many on here, and I assume other groups, communities and networks her was involved with. Thoughts and condolences to his family and friends. RIP Bullheart 🙁

his words were truly inspirational.
a loss to humanity.

RIP 🙁

Bullheart is my brother in law. He changed our family in many (good) ways and will leave an unfillable void but also a legacy that most people would dream of. He got me into cycling (singlespeed and fixed naturally), helped me loose weight, gain confidence and taught me to never give up. He also told the most inappropriate stories and jokes whilst my mum was around. Its amazing to read all the replies on this thread.

Bah, that's shite news - so sorry hear the news.
Followed his story from the first page of his original post. As with others (I never met him), just in awe of him as a person - honest, brave, courageous, funny, determined beyond belief. It seems strange to shed a tear for a man that you've never met, but what an incredible fight he put up. 10 years, a wedding, two kids, that didn't seem in anyway likely from the first diagnosis.
So RIP Mark (though will always think of you as Bullheart!) - you are an inspiration, and will continue to be.
Fraser

I applaud a life that was lived as if each day was it's last.

Chapeau Mark for keeping the beast at bay for as long as you did.

He was a hero.

RIP mark.

Rachel x

Inspirational indeed. A,axing fella. RIP, Mark, and love to all the family.

Thanks for sharing joshjenkinsshaw. Huge sympathies to your entire family - a massive loss. All hail those present and departed that grate the gears of a M-i-L 🙂

RIP Mark, an inspiration for sure.

Very sad news. A truly courageous fight and an inspiration to many.
Life runs up and kicks us all in the balls at some point. Im sure Mark had steel ones. RIP champ.

Oh damn crap news. Followed his fight and was inspired by his attitude. As people have said one of the good ones!

Very sad to hear this. I never met Mark but followed his story on here and know of him as a long terms STW'er. condolences to his family and evreyone close to him.....

RIP

****Cancer

Noooo.

Mark was someone i never met, but he was a legend and the cycling world will be a poorer place for not having him in it.

When Mark and Meg got married, my lovely, kind friend Chris (Marsdenman from here) drove miles from his home in Marsden to the Southwest to be Mark and Megs wedding photographer. Chris didn't charge. I was lucky enough to be shown the photos later.
Mark and Meg looked absolutely beautiful and were so happy.
Sadly Chris was diagnosed with cancer and a few years later he too died. Mark gave Chris lots of advice, hope, support and encouragement. All this meant so much to Chris.

Mark came across as a selfless, compassionate, kind and genuine person on here and I am thinking of his family at this terrible time.

Bunnyhop x

Thinking of his family. **** cancer 🤬

I never met Mark, but he was someone that I found inspirational. His openness, strength, persistence and courage - all were and will be something I continue to hold in tremendous regard.

Even from a distance - Mark was clearly a special person and my thoughts are so very much with those who hold him dear.

Ride free Mark.

Sorry, also cancer can go **** itself.

Thats at is really sad news.

I remember back to when he posted about his diagnosis. Very brave fella’.

RIP Mark.

Logged on to post something trivial about music and saw this sticky thread. Such sad news. Never met him but read followed his posts and was always amazed by his candour, bravery and determination to carry on fighting. Nothing to add, but puts my own current issues into context. RIP.

I don't want to intrude at this very sensitive time but if someone close to the family, maybe joshjenkinsshaw?, could post up the arrangements for Mark's funeral in due course I would be very grateful as I would like to pay my respects in person after all the help Mark gave to me.

Tears here - a very sad day. R.I.P. bullheart.

Been dreading this for ages

Every time a new thread appeared - and then instead that daft, stubborn sod would be on it, telling jokes about his "illness". Even this title. after the first "noooo" my second thought/hope was that it was a joke about him getting a new heart and saying goodbye to the old one.

OK, back to "nooooo" then 🙁

To any close friends or relatives of Mark who may read this thread, hopefully it's a tiny bit more evidence of what a character he was. A genuine inspiration to a whole load of cynical gits who'd never met the bloke. I hope you can treasure what must be an entire (ordinary) lifetime's haul of memories.

crispy's comment just up ^ there: I wonder if the family would mind a ride-by of portly MAMILs ? I'd try bloody hard to get there.

Been expecting this thread for years. The fact it has taken years says so much for his determination. The in-between threads made me laugh, mad and boggled all at once.

Fk Cancer.

I never met petes gaff/bullheart but like so many others found his determination incredibly moving and inspirational.

I haven't followed recent developments and come to believe that Mark was indestructable, so I'm truly shocked and gutted to hear the tragic news.

Didn't Mark set a world record for fighting this very rare form of cancer?

RIP petes gaff/bullheart/Mark

The loveliest man I never met.

I couldn't believe it when I saw the thread this morning - he was such an unstoppable force of character I never really thought of this happening. I didn't know what to say this morning and I still don't know.