But Mr Bishop has poured that grief into doing something positive about the disease. This year is the third time the staunch Queenslander and his mates have ridden from Brisbane to Sydney to raise funds for research.

He will be here in Tamworth today leading nine other riders in the third annual Bridge to Bridge Cycle Charity Ride.

The eight-day, 1000-kilometre trek goes via Warwick, the New England area, Tamworth, Quirindi and the Hunter Valley, finishing at Dawes Park under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

These charity rides have raised almost $75,000 for the Cure for Life Foundation over the past few events. 

Mr Bishop is concerned that while this disease remains one of the most understudied cancers – receiving relatively small amounts of research funding – it causes so much economic and social distress.

“About 1400 Australians will be diagnosed with brain cancer each year, of which more than 1100 will die prematurely from their tumours,” he said.

“While brain cancer continues to cause more deaths in children and adults under 40 than any other type of cancer, it is concerning that there have been no significant recorded improvements in survival rates in almost 20 years.”