78-year-old to trial his homemade ‘tadpole like’ bike on a 700-mile trip between Aberdeen to Plymouth

A 78-year-old Aberdeen pensioner is setting out on a mammoth 700mile bike ride to visit his family.

John Brady is about to put one of his “contraptions” to the test by cycling – with the help of a little electricity – from Aberdeen to Plymouth.

The idea for propelling himself to the south grew out of a desperation to see his family after Covid struck.

During the pandemic Mr Brady’s regular flights to Plymouth to see family came to an abrupt halt.

With a train journey being a “grim” 13 hours long, his daughter joked he should cycle down instead.

Neither of them expected him to take on the challenge.

“The idea just just grew arms and legs,” he said. “And I thought, why not?”

The hobby started 10 years ago

Mr Brady has been making his own E-Trikes – essentially an E-Bike with three wheels – around 10 years ago.

“It actually started when I was volunteering for North East Sensory Services and taking young people out on tandems,” Mr Brady said.

“One of the items they had was a tagalong bike. But it had two wheels and it was incredibly dangerous. It was very top heavy.

“So they decided not to use this thing and it gave me an idea.”

After buying the bike off the service, Mr Brady decided to add another wheel to the front.

‘There’s quite a lot at stake’

Trying out a few different versions, he finally settled on the “tadpole-like” model with an electric assist motor complete with a solar panelled trailer to help charge the batteries.

The Airyhall resident added: “I’ve been building these trikes for several years now. They are the kind where you don’t sit on the saddle, you sit back in the seat. They’re very comfortable and great fun to ride.

“So that’s the basis upon which I’m traveling the 700 miles down to Cornwall. Obviously there’s a certain risk element because I’ve built all this myself.

“But it’s been built over a period of about two years so I think I’ve ironed out all the wrinkles, but we’ll find out in the next few weeks.

“I’m excited and a bit apprehensive. In terms of mechanical reliability, there’s quite a lot at stake.”

Mr Brady sets off from Aberdeen on Thursday, September 1, and plans to cycle 65 miles per day.

The journey is expected to take him around two weeks and he is raising money for The Core charity, an organisation that helps young people run by his daughter in Saltmarsh.