Former speedway rider Nick Simmons takes on 1000-mile endurance ride for cancer charity
A FORMER speedway rider is taking on a 1,000-mile endurance ride… on a $300 vintage motorbike.
Nick Simmonds is joining the Longest Day Challenge, a ride from Land’s End to John O Groats in 24 hours without using motorways and with no stops for sleep.
The Wellesbourne resident will be part of a team of 35 riders who are raising money for Cancer Research UK.
Nick, who retired from speedway in 2011 after a 15-year career mostly with the Isle of Wight Islanders, said: “There is absolutely no time to sleep, it’s all the way through. If you put the route into Google Maps it comes out at 23 hours with no stops, so it’s pretty intense.”
He told the Herald that although his mother is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer, he is raising money specifically for pancreatic cancer research as it is a far less known form of the disease and is often terminal.
“I knew two people who died from it and, unfortunately, it’s one of those cancers where often, by the time you get diagnosed, it’s too late to be effectively treated,” he said. “The survival rate is not good.”
Nick is now a businessman. He runs Harbury-based Summerbud Ltd, which imports and restores classic motorbikes. And it’s a classic bike – a 1974 Honda CB360 – which Nick will try to coax the length of the country.
Part of the challenge is that the bike shouldn’t cost more than £600 and is what’s considered a ‘rat bike’ – a motorcycle that has been kept on the road with improvised repairs and very little thought about its appearance.
Nick imported his 49-year-old bike from the States and it has been confirmed as by far the oldest machine in this year’s ride. “Because I am into old bikes, I thought this would make an additional twist to the challenge,” he said.
He spent the last two months doing up the Honda to make it fully roadworthy, turning it from a wreck into a restored bike that’s been decked out in the charity’s colours.
Nick hopes it gets him through the marathon journey unscathed as he’s seen more than his share of hospitals during his professional racing career. “I’ve been put to sleep ten times for operations, from breaking wrists, legs, hand and dislocated hips,” he added.
The challenge, now in its 11th year, raised £60,000 in 2022 and more than £312,000 since it first started back in 2013. So far Nick has raised over £2,900 with £700 donated by shoppers at Sainsbury’s in Wellesbourne on Saturday, 20th May.
To sponsor Nick, visit https://tinyurl.com/3rkax6bk.
