A BIKER who died after completing this year’s Toy Run will take his final ride this Friday.
Pete Thomson-Spokes, 64, who lived in Shinfield, died on Sunday, December 4 after suffering a massive heart attack close to the finishing point of the annual charity event.
The funeral of the avid motorcyclist, who rode a Yamaha Dragster 1100, will take place tomorrow (Friday) at Easthampstead Park Crematorium.
Ahead of the service, dozens of bikers from across the area are expected to turn out for Pete as he makes his final journey in a Harley-Davidson and sidecar hearse, his dream bike.
His daughter Erica Clarke, who lives in Barnsley, said the family had been overwhelmed by the support received from the local community.
She said: “Dad would ride the Toy Run every year with his son Kevin, who lives locally, it was such a happy event for them. I am planning to do it next year as a passenger with my brother in honour of our dad.
“They had a great time on this year’s run. When they got to the end, Dad said he needed to use the toilet so left Kevin with the bikes, but after a while he didn’t come back and Kevin turned around to see him on the floor. Some people had stopped to give him CPR, which we are so grateful for, but there was nothing they could do. We have been in touch with one of the people, Murray, who is a lovely, lovely guy and really tried to help Dad. He let us keep Dad’s bike on his driveway until we were ready to take it away which was very kind of him.
“We’d had no warning, Dad was in good health, the only thing he had was high blood pressure which had obviously caused some heart disease, but it was very quick.
“Dad was such a lovely man, he was quiet and reserved but I’ll always remember us having such a laugh with him when we were younger. He loved my daughter, Rhea, his granddaughter, and we tried to see him as often as we could.
“He was just a lovely, lovely man, he had no enemies and everyone always had a kind word to say about him. We will miss him so much.
“Dad always had a bike, I remember when I was about five-years-old I would stand in the garden and hear him coming home from work as the engine would be so loud.
“He rode a chrome and black Yamaha Dragster 1100, but his dream bike was a Harley, so the funeral directors organised for him to be carried on his last ride in one. It’s a fitting tribute and we think he would have loved it.”
n The procession will meet at Miles & Daughters funeral directors in Reading Road, Winnersh at 2.30pm on Friday, before leaving for the crematorium at 3pm. The funeral itself will be a private service, but the family will be gathering with Pete’s fellow bikers at the Green Man pub, in Crowthorne Road, Easthampstead, to celebrate his life.
