The jokes are flying among the great and the good of English rugby as the peloton starts to find its rhythm. There is a jovial mood and the mickey taking is as constant as it is savage. ‘F*****g hell, I’ve never seen anyone look so small on a bike!’ former England captain Martin Corry tells Jason Robinson, poking fun at the 2003 World Cup winner’s size. Leading the way at the front is the skipper of that famous side, Martin Johnson, as fit and competitive as he’s ever been at 56. As the cycling pack is forced into a stop by a red light at a non-descript junction somewhere in rural Leicestershire, Robinson doesn’t use the time to rest. Instead, he breaks into a dance to the tune of Olivia Dean’s Man I Need which is blaring out from a support vehicle behind. Holding the mammoth speaker is Lewis Moody’s wife Annie. Up ahead, alongside Johnson, is her husband, once again showing the same immense fight and determination which characterised his playing days in the toughest of circumstances. Despite receiving an earth-shattering motor neurone disease (MND) diagnosis last year, Moody – whose career saw him star with Leicester, England and the Lions – has used the worst news possible as a force for good. This week, he and a glittering array of his former team-mates are undertaking a 500-mile charity cycle ride from Newcastle Red Bulls’ stadium to Saturday’s PREM Rugby final at Twickenham, to raise awareness and funds to support MND research. England World Cup winner Lewis Moody has been diagnosed with MND and is raising money to help find a cure for the disease Moody is joined on his charity bike round by members of England’s World Cup-winning team from 2003 including Jason Robinson (left)
Daily Mail Sport is given the chance to join Moody and Co on a bike on day three, as the group make their way from Worksop to Leicester’s Welford Road, once Moody’s home ground.‘This event is about supporting each other and getting through,’ says Robinson, passing on a few tips to the group’s new arrival and novice cyclist. ‘It’s what the rugby family does. There are some very good people in this sport, but Lewis is one of the best. I went into battle with him a few times and he looked after me big time. ‘He has a reputation for being tough and for putting his body on the line for everyone else, so now it’s our turn to do the same for him at what is a tough time. Looking after each other as former team-mates is how it should be. You can’t go through what we did as an England side and not have a deep connection. ‘Things like this put life in perspective. Forget winning a World Cup. It was great, but it’s in the tough times you need your mates the most. Lewis knows he’s got us here for the tougher days ahead and it’s important we try and make a difference now while we can. ‘We know how awful MND is but the way Lewis has dealt with it just blows the mind. We’re going through a bit of pain on the bike, but that’s nothing compared to Lewis’ challenge. He’s so inspiring.’ That much is proven across the day I spend with Moody. MND affects the body’s nervous system. There is currently no cure. Moody is the latest former rugby star to have been diagnosed, following Joost van der Westhuizen, Doddie Weir, Rob Burrow and Ed Slater. It is the cruellest of illnesses – one which six people in the UK are told they have each day. The hope is to find a cure. That is why Moody and his nearest and dearest are supporting My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, which was set up by the late Scotland and British & Irish Lions lock Weir. ‘This is like a constant wave of emotions punching me repeatedly,’ says Moody, as we chat at one of the day’s regular pitstops. ‘I feel privileged to be in this space. It’s a strange word, but I use it often. I get to be really focused on using my platform for good.’ It is mid-afternoon, the third quarter of what is an 86-mile day and my legs are starting to flag. I fall victim to the Leicestershire hills and start lagging behind the pack. I can only watch from afar as, despite battling severe illness, Moody ploughs on. Moody and friends are undertaking a 500-mile cycle ride from Newcastle to Saturday’s PREM Rugby final at Twickenham Moody with Daily Mail Sport’s Alex Bywater, who struggled to complete one leg of the journey I am amazed at the combination of his physical endurance and mental fortitude. It is on arrival at Oakham School – Moody’s alma mater – that the real sense of why we’re here takes over. There, Moody and his former school coach Ian ‘Dosser’ Smith are among a group to deliver tear-jerking speeches surrounded by current pupils. ‘This is going to be hard for me and my family,’ Moody says, stopping briefly as he is overcome with emotion. ‘But with love and support, it’s going to be easier. Please continue with us on this journey. You’ll see it for what it is. I hope in my lifetime, we can make a difference.’ After speaking, Moody collapses into the arms of his close friend and former Leicester team-mate Leon Lloyd. Around him, Annie, Moody’s two sons Dylan and Ethan and his mother are in floods of tears. So too is another Leicester legend and friend in Geordan Murphy. It is impossible not to well up in such an atmosphere. ‘It’s a tidal wave of emotion,’ Moody says. ‘It’s a little bit like being at your own wake. That sounds a bit solemn, but I think that’s something more people should experience – hearing the love and support that’s there for you. We don’t often do that as humans. We should do it more regularly.’ At Oakham, Smith confirms the school’s first-team rugby pitch will be renamed in Moody’s honour. Oakham’s Latin motto references passing on ‘the torch of life’ and that is how Moody sees his latest chapter. He wants to continue the work started by the likes of Weir. While the extreme cruelties of MND are yet to take hold fully, Moody receives regular treatment from former England physio Phil Pask, massaging his shoulder where he now does have a weakness. There is laughter when at one stop, Pask – a Northampton man – tapes up Louis Deacon in the black, green and gold of Leicester’s bitter rivals to support his knee niggle. Deacon, like many on the ride, is Tigers through and through. There is constant support from the club’s fans across the day. Cars beep their horns. There are multiple signs showing their love for Moody. An emotional Moody speaks to supporters and pupils at Oakham School – his alma mater – during his epic bike ride Moody is joined by his two sons and another Leicester legend and friend in Geordan Murphy during his bike ride Moody with his fellow World Cup winner Ben Kay ‘This is proper serious stuff at the moment, so all the boys are here,’ says Johnson, still an iconic leader 23 years on from lifting the William Webb Ellis Cup. ‘Lewis was like our little kid brother with our generation because he turned up full of schoolboy enthusiasm, naivety and joy. It was fun to watch him and he developed into a world-class player. ‘He’s universally loved and a guy who is easy to rally around. MND has been a bit underfunded over the years. Unfortunately, it always takes a tragedy to get something going. We’ve seen that with Doddie and Rob. If your mate is going through something and asks you to help out, then of course you do. I like cycling anyway! Some of the guys don’t which is quite funny. We can laugh at their suffering.’ Former Scotland wing Kenny Logan is one of the group taking on the whole length of the ride. Logan played alongside Weir and has been a long-term supporter of MND fundraising. ‘When Doddie was diagnosed, he was told he may as well go into a room and say his goodbyes. Lewis was told there’s hope,’ Logan says. ‘The challenge is to make that hope bigger and better. The funding is key to that. ‘The fact Lewis is doing this challenge is quite incredible. A lot of people with MND don’t have a voice. The disease takes that away and sometimes, the symptoms mean they withdraw in life. We want to give those people a voice.’ At Worksop RFC, the finish point for day two, Moody met Leicester fan Rick, a man who hadn’t left his house in over 12 months since receiving his own MND diagnosis. He has done so to tell Moody in person how inspiring his fundraising efforts have been to him and others. It is a perfect encapsulation of the former flanker’s impact. ‘Everyone has mates. But team-mates are a different breed,’ says Moody, his voice cracking again. ‘Team-mates stand up for you when times are hard. I feel incredibly grateful to have such an amazing group of humans around me on this ride. They’re there to support me but also to help carry on this baton from Doddie and Rob. You’re part of this now too. ‘He has a reputation for being tough and for putting his body on the line for everyone else, so now it’s our turn to do the same for him at what is a tough time,’ Robinson says Moody receives regular treatment from former England physio Phil Pask, massaging his shoulder where he now does have a weakness ‘Lewis was like our little kid brother with our generation because he turned up full of schoolboy enthusiasm, naivety and joy. He developed into a world-class player’‘We need to find better treatments. A cure might be a bit further off but there’s no reason why we can’t make living with MND longer and easier.’ Alongside Moody, I end an incredibly emotional, yet uplifting day with a beer at Welford Road having not been the only one to have to sit out some of the afternoon riding. I marvel at the fact Moody has not only completed it despite his illness but also has several hundred more miles to cover to Twickenham. I hobble to my hotel room with one overriding thought running through my head – the superhero that is Moody is just built differently to the rest of us mere mortals. That much has only been rubberstamped by his actions this week.A huge fight awaits Moody, but he will forever be one of England’s greats.To donate to Lewis Moody’s charity cycle ride and support the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, visit https://lewismoodyxv-cyclechallenge.com/