Biker Brad is just champion again |
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| Thursday, 09 July 2009 16:09 | |||
 A motorbike rider who broke both his arms and legs in a horrific racing accident is riding high after getting back on his bike after 20 years.Brad Jones is currently Cheshire and North Wales Trial Champion – despite breaking a leg again during the competition. He is now bringing the Northern British Championship rounds of the GB competition to Wales for the first time, to coincide with the Llangollen Motorbike Show on Saturday and Sunday, August 1 and 2. “I’m delighted to be part of the Llangollen Motorbike Show,” he said. “It’s really given our club some recognition.” David Green, whose company Xuberance Events organises the Motorbike Show, is thrilled that the championship riders will be coming to the show. He said: “Brad is a real-life local hero and we’re delighted that he’s back in the saddle again and doing so well. “He and the championship competitors are guaranteed a very warm Motorbike Show welcome when they stop by on the Sunday of the Show.”  After his accident, at the age of 20 Brad swore he would never ride again.“I’m from a motorbiking family and started trials riding aged 11. But I didn’t do much of that because I got into faster bikes and rode in the Enduros, representing Wales,” he said. “I was quite successful until I broke both arms and legs at the age of 20 when I hit a tree during a race. “I was pinned and plastered and immobile for months before I recovered. After that I decided to lay off bikes.” It was two decades later, when his own children began to get interested, that he plucked up the courage to give it another go. “We went to a local field and I was very nervous, the accident all came back to me and I couldn’t believe how bad I was at first,” he said. That was seven years ago. Then last year he broke his leg again, mid-way through the Cheshire and North Wales championships. Undeterred this time, Brad recovered quickly enough to get back, on his bike – again - eventually winning the competition. And he’s currently second in the 2009 GB Championships – just one short point behind the leader During the past seven years Brad, a mechanic at A and N Richards, near his Froncysyllte home, and Chairman of the Llangollen and District Motorcycle Club, has raised £10,000 for charity. The local Air Ambulance and Gobowen Orthopaedic Hospital, who treated him after his accident, have both benefitted from his fundraising. Earlier this year, Brad was invited to meet Prince Charles who congratulated him on his efforts. Although he’s riding high in the current GB Championships, Brad will not take part in the Dyffryn Dyfrdwy, the Llangollen stage of the competition. “Because I’m the organiser I won’t be allowed to take part but I will be give ten points instead,” said Brad. His fellow 120 competitors in the trials, including some of Britain’s best trials riders, will be treated to a challenging but scenic 30 mile circuit around Llangollen. “There will be 30 trials along the way and the course is all on public roads and tracks,” he explained. “The course will start at Trevor and go up the Panorama and then into the Bike Show itself. “This will be a special stage where the bikes will park up to allow members of the public to come and look at them while some of our younger members, including my son Robert, will be taking part in the show itself.” All the bikes in the competition are no newer than 1965 with some dating back to the 1930s. “Some of them are real labours of love, with people spending thousands of pounds on them,” said Brad, who rides a BSA Bantam 1957. “I bought it two years ago, even though there are possibly better bikes, because I had learned to ride on a Bantam.” Also on display for the first time in North Wales will be one of the most famous bikes in the history of speedway which was ridden by former world champion Peter Collins during the golden age of the sport in the 1970s. There’ll also be motorbike displays, expert advice clinics, a club corner, a live action arena as well as a new Custom bike show. For more information go to www.themotorcycleshow.co.uk Article source: www.themotorcycleshow.co.uk
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