Jody Mudge reckons he’s just about up to riding 10kms in the mountain bike ride at Mount Majura next month to raise funds and awareness for Head and Neck Cancer Australia. He tells reporter LILY PASS why.

JODY Mudge was diagnosed with a stage four metastatic cancer on the base of his tongue in 2016, and a secondary cancer was found to have spread from his nasopharynx to multiple nodes throughout his neck.

Now, Jody has just celebrated six years since treatment finished, and is getting ready to celebrate in a major way.

“I’ll be taking part in a 10-kilometre mountain bike ride at Mount Majura, raising funds and awareness for Head and Neck Cancer Australia,” he says.

The 2023 Capital Classic offers a 50km, 25km or 10km mountain bike ride to raise awareness and funds for the charity Head and Neck Cancer Australia.

Only in recent weeks has Jody, 51, picked up his bike for the first time since his diagnosis to squeeze in as much practice before the ride on April 2.

Having previously worked as a registered nurse at Canberra Hospital, Jody and his colleagues used to ride and chat to decompress.

“When I heard about the Capital Classic I was very nervous. There was no way I could ride 25 kilometres., I’m still struggling a bit physically,” says Jody.

“Then it was mentioned there would be a 10-kilometre ride option, and I thought I just had to find the motivation.

“I want to show people that even after cancer, people can do this; we can get back to hobbies we enjoyed before the diagnosis.”

Jody, of Calwell, says the first sign of cancer was a lump that developed on the side of his neck.

“I went to my GP to get it sorted, and then there was the shock and horror,” he says.

“I had quite a large tumour that nobody really wanted to operate on, so I was given quite aggressive radiation, and chemotherapy to intensify the radiation.

“It took a long time to recover. I remember being in hospital weeks after my treatment finished and I struggled to just get up off the ground physically; mentally was a whole different story.

Carolyn Smith, a former head and neck cancer patient, and the Head and Neck Cancer Australia board director, says treatment is pretty gruelling.

“I was diagnosed with tonsil cancer in 2019, and the first and only symptom I had was a lump in my neck,” says Carolyn, 58.

“I had surgery, a neck dissection and six weeks of radiotherapy. It’s a pretty gruelling treatment. It took me some months, I’d even say years, to get back to what I would regard as a new normal.

“But it’s not the same, the swallowing, the radiotherapy destroys your salivary glands so you end up with a dry mouth.”

And Jody agrees, saying it does take things away from you.

“You have to get used to swallowing and eating. I’ve had to see a speech pathologist. I didn’t realise how big these were, and how important, until I couldn’t do it,” says Jody.

The brainchild of Carolyn, the Capital Classic’s purpose is to build engagement and a support base in the broader Canberra community.

“Head and Neck Cancer Australia organised a ride in Wollongong last year, which was very successful,” says Carolyn, of Campbell.

“I was talking to my cousin, Nigel Harvey, who said we should do something in Canberra. Nigel is a mad keen cyclist himself. He worked for PSI Cycling, who is one of our sponsors. He was the inspiration.

“We were keen to use the Majura bike trails for the event, and Mount Majura Vineyard is just such a beautiful entry point, so we’re very grateful Majura Vineyard was prepared to sponsor the event,” she says.

Head and Neck Cancer Australia CEO Nadia Rosin will be taking part in the ride, signing herself up for the 10-kilometre option.

“We are the only national charity in Australia supporting people with head and neck cancer,” she says.

Nadia, who was brought up in Farrer, is looking forward to getting an important message across.

“A lot of people assume head and neck cancer is due to smoking and drinking alcohol, but those instances are decreasing. Human papillomavirus is now responsible for 70 per cent of a certain type of throat cancer,” she says.

“Two out of three people diagnosed with head and neck cancer are male, and there’s an increasing incidence in younger people being diagnosed.”

More at support.headandneckcancer.org.au