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Heart attack Leeds man completes 2,000 mile trip on WW1 motorbike
Having a heart attack – especially while paragliding at 1,500ft – might make you take it a bit easier.
But not 71-year-old Noel Whittall who has just finished a 2,000-mile trip on a First World War motorbike.
He suffered the life-threatening attack last year while flying above
Addingham Moorside near Ilkley.
The retired writer and editor spent 15 days in Leeds General Infirmary before he was allowed home.
Surgeons had to insert four stents to keep his arteries open.
But Noel, who lives in Rawdon, Leeds, was determined to live life to the full.
Last month he pulled on his helmet and leather gloves, fired up his classic 1918 belt-driven Model H Triumph and set off on a two-and-half week journey to drive the length of Britain.
He said: "Straight after the heart attack I got a booklet from the British Heart Foundation with a bloke on it doing some potting in a shed.
"I thought sod that for a game of soldiers. I've always loved and had a great interest in early motorcycles. I used to ride in vintage motorcycle rallies in the 1960s.
"I'd restored the Triumph and over the last couple of months I'd felt increasingly confident in my health so on September 29 I set off." The father-of-two grown-up children headed up to Scotland, arriving at John O'Groats a week later.
He spent about eight hours in the saddle a day using only the B-roads and staying in B&Bs or small hotels.
Noel came back through Leeds for a pit-stop to "check his e-mails". Then he rode down through Coventry and on to Penzance and finally Land's End, chugging along at an average speed of 38mph.
He said: "The leather seat is actually more comfortable than it looks, although I did have to manually pump oil into the engine every ten minutes.
"It's been pretty hard, but there have been some fantastic days.
"A highlight was riding back from Land's End in the sunshine on the high ground and being able to see the water glistening on both sides.
"On the downside, the number of boarded up pubs right up and down the country is shocking. It's a big social change."
Although he didn't do the ride for charity he has since made "substantial" donation to the British Heart Foundation.
The pensioner added: "I can't say enough about the Leeds General Infirmary and the National Health Service, it's kept me going.
"I didn't do the ride for charity, I did it for my own amusement. My message is that life goes on."
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Weather for Leeds
Friday 10 February 2012
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