Prologue: From Front Line to Finish Line
Follow a former combat medic and paramedic rebuilding at 42 through cycling, resilience, and the history of Flanders.
At 42 years old, I’ve learned that life doesn’t really move in straight lines. It moves in stages. In tours. In seasons. In long winter base miles and unexpected crosswinds.
This blog — Pillars & Pulse — is my way of stitching those seasons together.
It’s about medicine.
It’s about the military.
It’s about cycling.
It’s about history — especially the brutal, beautiful cobbles of Flanders.
And, if I’m honest, it’s about rebuilding after redundancy and choosing reinvention over retreat.
Welcome to the ride.
The Early Years: Blue Lights and Big Decisions
I joined the ambulance service in 2009.
I was young enough to think I knew a lot and old enough to realise I didn’t know nearly enough. The first time the blue lights flickered against the windscreen and I felt the weight of someone else’s worst day resting in my hands, I understood something simple:
This job wasn’t about adrenaline.
It was about responsibility.
For the next decade, London was my classroom.
I worked as a double-crewed paramedic, learning rhythm, teamwork, and trust. Later, I worked as a solo responder — which sounds heroic until you realise it often means you, a rucksack, and a lot of very creative problem-solving at 3am.
London gives you everything:
- Major trauma
- Cardiac arrests
- Mental health crises
- Social inequality in its rawest form
It also gives you perspective.
And perspective is one of the pillars this blog stands on.
Becoming a Combat Medic
In 2011, I joined the Army Reserves as a combat medic.
Not because I wanted medals.
Not because I wanted glory.
But because I wanted to test myself.
There is something about military medicine that strips away comfort. You don’t have the luxury of perfect conditions. You adapt. You improvise. You carry weight — physically and emotionally.
In 2013, I deployed to Afghanistan.
It was hot. It was dusty. It was complicated.
And it was one of the most defining experiences of my life.
I was later awarded a Queen’s Commendation — something I remain deeply proud of — but the real reward was something quieter: clarity.
You learn quickly in that environment what matters.
- Your team
- Your preparation
- Your resilience
And perhaps most importantly, you learn that fear and competence can coexist.
That lesson has followed me into every chapter since.
From Sirens to Study: The Master’s Years
In 2017, I started my Advanced Practice Master’s degree at a local hospital.
If operational medicine taught me decisiveness, postgraduate study taught me depth.
I moved from reacting to emergencies to understanding systems.
From “what’s happening?” to “why is this happening?”
I worked across:
- Primary care
- Acute medicine
- Community care
Over the past eight years, I’ve practiced as an Advanced Practitioner in environments that demand both clinical sharpness and human nuance.
Then came 2019.
COVID.
Like many frontline clinicians, I worked through a period that felt at times like a slow-burning war zone — not in the dramatic sense, but in the relentlessness. The uncertainty. The constant evolution of guidance. The emotional toll.
Medicine changed.
Healthcare changed.
We changed.
But something else happened during those years.
I started thinking more about systems, leadership, and impact.
Leadership, Policy, and Positive Change
My most recent role moved me away from the road and into leadership — creating policy, writing guidance, trying (sometimes successfully, sometimes not) to drive meaningful change.
Policy work is strange.
When it’s done well, nobody notices.
When it’s done badly, everyone feels it.
I’ve spent the last few years trying to build frameworks that make frontline care safer, clearer, and more sustainable. Trying to create guidance that actually works at 3am — not just on paper.
And then, redundancy.
It’s funny how quickly identity can wobble when a role ends.
For years, my sense of self had been anchored in titles:
Paramedic.
Combat Medic.
Advanced Practitioner.
Clinical Lead.
Redundancy forces a different question:
Who are you without the job description?
The Other Pulse: Cycling
Parallel to all of this has been cycling.
Not just as fitness.
Not just as sport.
But as therapy.
There’s something brutally honest about riding a bike.
No hiding.
No shortcuts.
Just watts, wind, and willpower.
Cycling has been:
- My decompression chamber after night shifts
- My thinking space after policy meetings
- My reset button after difficult calls
But it’s also something deeper.
I’ve always been drawn to the history of cycling — especially the Spring Classics and the cobbled chaos of Flanders.
The Soul of Flanders
4
There is something poetic about racing over the same cobbles that have seen centuries of history.
The Ronde van Vlaanderen isn’t just a bike race. It’s folklore on wheels. Farmers’ lanes. Church bells. Mud-splattered suffering. Spectators six deep in freezing rain.
The cobbles don’t care about your FTP.
They don’t care about your Instagram following.
They demand respect.
And that resonates with me.
Because medicine, the military, and cycling all share something fundamental:
You prepare relentlessly…
And then you endure what comes.
Why “Pillars & Pulse”?
The name reflects the structure of my life.
Pillars — the foundations:
- Service
- Discipline
- History
- Resilience
- Learning
Pulse — the living, beating, human element:
- The patient in front of you
- The rhythm on a cardiac monitor
- The thud of your heart on a cobbled climb
- The momentum of starting again
This blog and vlog will explore:
- Cycling performance and mindset at 40+
- The history of Flanders and the Classics
- Lessons from military and frontline medicine
- Leadership insights from healthcare
- Building a multi-revenue brand from scratch
- Reinventing yourself after redundancy
Because if I’ve learned anything, it’s this:
Reinvention is a skill.
The 40+ Athlete, The Second Act, and The Build
At 42, I’m not chasing professional contracts.
But I am chasing progression.
There’s something quietly powerful about building again in your forties. You’re not fuelled by ego anymore. You’re fuelled by intent.
This next chapter isn’t just about a blog.
It’s about building a brand that merges:
- Cycling apparel
- Performance insights
- Digital content
- History storytelling
- Education
A multi-revenue ecosystem rooted in authenticity.
Not hype.
And certainly not pretending I have it all figured out.
If anything, Pillars & Pulse will document the figuring-out.
What You Can Expect
Expect:
- Honest reflections on frontline medicine
- Stories from Afghanistan and reserve life
- Deep dives into Flanders cycling history
- Performance experiments (some successful, some questionable)
- Conversations about leadership and change
- The occasional self-deprecating humour when my FTP refuses to cooperate
Expect depth — but not dryness.
Expect analysis — but also humanity.
And occasionally, expect mud.
Redundancy as Catalyst
Redundancy wasn’t part of the plan.
But then again, neither was Afghanistan when I first signed up in 2011.
The common thread in my life has never been certainty.
It’s been forward motion.
This blog is forward motion.
Instead of seeing redundancy as an ending, I’m choosing to see it as transition — the gap between one operational tour and the next mission.
And this mission is creative.
Why This Matters (Beyond Me)
You might be here because:
- You’re a clinician wondering what comes next.
- You’re a cyclist over 40 trying to stay competitive.
- You’re fascinated by the history of the Spring Classics.
- You’re building something from scratch after a career shift.
Or maybe you just like bikes and stories.
Either way, this space is about showing that identity isn’t singular.
You can be:
- A paramedic
- A soldier
- A policy writer
- A cyclist
- A student
- A leader
- A beginner again
All at once.
The Road Ahead
There will be:
- Long rides.
- Long reads.
- Lessons learned the hard way.
- And probably some questionable kit choices.
But there will also be growth.
Because whether on the road, on deployment, or in a hospital corridor at 2am, one thing remains true:
Momentum matters.
And this — Pillars & Pulse — is me choosing to keep moving.
If you’re here at the beginning, welcome.
Clip in.
Let’s ride.