FEATURE: Father and son race for the Aces

Last Sunday, East Park v Wednesfield Aces Midland League Division 2 Cycle Speedway match saw a very proud moment for father and son, Wayne and Adam Tipton, who both raced for Wednesfield Aces second team.

Adam, a regular Aces second team and Youth & Junior league rider, has been racing at the club for the past four seasons while dad, Wayne, a committee member at Wednesfield, normally takes up the role of a cheering parent by leaning on the fence from the side lines.

Wayne, following minor heart surgery in 2014 and a decline in his health during 2015, was advised by doctors to lose (a lot of) weight and try some exercise.

It was time to listen to the warning signs and so, with the club’s assistance and support, they allowed him to use the track to train four days a week. The first time on the track, some 12 months ago, he could manage just four laps before being sick. Wayne is now able to complete 100 laps as a warm up and cycle over 30 miles every Saturday morning.

Over the past two years, Wayne has also qualified as a Level 2 British Cycling Coach and will soon take part in the Cycle Speedway specific coaching course. Wayne’s next aim is to start running “GET FIT- BE ACTIVE“ sessions on Wednesday nights at the Aces track for adults who want to become more active while also learning about Cycle Speedway.

Anyone interested contact Wayne via the club website: http://www.wednesfieldaces.org.uk/ or twitter – @Thebigtiptop

Wayne encourages everyone to join in, he says: “If I can do it at 49 years of age then, anyone can. You’re never too old to get back on a cycle speedway bike and I’m looking forward to hopefully racing a lot more in the future.”

Wayne added a final comment: “Cycle Speedway has not only changed my life, it’s probably saved my life. It has fulfilled a long term aim to race cycle speedway again having last rode for the club in 1984. It was a very proud day for me and my family”.

Congratulations Wayne, inspirational effort and great to see more parents getting involved on the track.