Man to ride to the Arctic in memory of '˜wonderful' son

Along with five other bikers, Adrian Caddy is making the trip, which he has called Caddy’s Arctic Ride, from Hastings to Kiruna in Sweden, The 4,000-mile round trip is to commemorate the death of his son on May 26, 2017, in a road traffic collision.

Simon Caddy would have been celebrating his 30th birthday this year and along with his father and younger brother, Alex, was going to be joining the motorcycle ride to mark the 35th anniversary of his father’s Arctic trip by BMW flat-twin motorcycle in 1983.

Simon was a Police Class 1 Traffic Officer with Thames Valley Police and a highly-accomplished motorcyclist, archer and a ‘pillar of the community’, his father said.

Adrian Caddy will be making the trip on his son’s 2010 Triumph Tiger 1050 along with co-star of Long Way Round and Long Way Down, Charley Boorman.

Simon’s motorcycle will be prepared for the 4,000-mile journey by Hastings Motorcycle Centre.

Mr Caddy said: “The deals we have going with sponsors have been phenomenal. Volvo Sweden are giving us a backup car in case of any emergencies, as well as support vehicle cameras. We’ve been sponsored by a number of hotels, which is where we’ll be staying at night.”

The team have also been given access to the bridge from Denmark and Sweden for free.

The group will travel from Hastings to The Bike Shed in London, before boarding an overnight ferry to the Hook of Holland. From there, they will travel to Denmark before crossing by ferry into Southern Sweden, ready to ride up inside the Arctic circle for Midsummer’s Day on June 21.

Tony Weston, who Mr Caddy describes as “the field archery equivalent of David Beckham”, will be joining him on part of the trip. The pair met when Mr Weston trained both of his sons in archery. Julia Jacobs, the first ever female Class 1 motorcycle officer in Thames Valley Police, will also take part.

Mr Caddy is investing £20,000 into the bike ride and said: “I don’t care how much I make back from it.

“I’m doing it because we were going to do it together and I was very close to my son. I’m doing it in his memory.”

Mr Caddy hopes the trip – which will be documented in a film and later, a book – will promote Think Bike!, and act as a ‘fitting tribute to a wonderful young man and his profession; both dedicated to making roads safer places for all users through observation, focus and respect’.

Written by Kayleigh Bolingbroke