Benidorm bound: Charity C90 ride to Spain closes in on £20k

Six biking mates who rode Honda C90s through six countries in six days are on target to raise £20,000 for charity. John Haynes came up with the idea for the ‘Benidorm Bound’ trip last year after visiting his dad, Rod – a 1970s speedway star – in Lindsey Lodge Hospice.

According to John, C90s were chosen “because we wanted to make it difficult” and the aim was initially to raise £10,000 for the hospice. This has now been upped to £20,000 to also help Macmillan Cancer Support.

“We got up to £5000-£6000 fairly quickly so I then raised it to £20,000. We’re now at about £17,000, but I’ve no doubt we’ll accomplish it,” John told MCN on arriving home. “We’ve got other things planned and I’m quite confident we’ll make £20,000. It’s gone far further than I expected.”

Having set off from Harwich to Holland, before riding through Belgium, France, Andorra and Spain, John was joined by friends Lee Baker, Jonny Milner, twins Steve and Matthew Joyce and Jez Teasdale.

And, after six days camping, nearly 1650 miles, assorted breakdowns and incidents, all made it to the finish line before vanning the C90s back home.

“The whole thing was just a massive buzz,” John continued. “Holland was good, Belgium was torrential, there was snow in Andorra and it was scorching in Spain.

“The longest day was around 300 miles but even the downsides were good. One lad’s swingarm spindle fell out, my exhaust snapped and a frame snapped. But engine-wise they were absolutely fine.”

If you’d like to donate, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/rod-haynes or check out the ‘Benidorm Bound’ Facebook page.

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Old Honda C90s gear up for 1368-mile Benidorm epic

First published on 18 January 2022 by Phil West

Six intrepid Honda C90 riders are planning an ambitious mission to cover six countries in six days to raise money for charity.

John Haynes and five mates hope to cover 1368 miles on their trusty Hondas and are aiming to embark on the epic adventure at the end of May 2022, Covid restrictions permitting. The group will start in Winterton, Lincolnshire and end in the Spanish resort of Benidorm.

The Spanish invasion is all about raising money for Lindsey Lodge Hospice in Scunthorpe, who cared for John’s father Rod Haynes – a speedway star in the 70s who rode for Scunthorpe and Sheffield Tigers.

John said: “I told Dad I was going to do this when he was in the hospice and he just rolled his eyes. But I told him, so I have to do it now.

“It took us a while to source six C90s but we’ve done it. Some of the lads had to travel a bit to get them, but we managed to get six and have already had a 60-mile run out.

“I have been experimenting with the gearing on mine as they can do 50-55mph… but not for long. But it didn’t make much difference and I think we’ll be cruising at about 45mph.

“We are planning to cover about 300 miles per day and camp en route with gear that we will carry with us as we didn’t want to make it too easy! The guys who are coming are all mechanically minded and they can all dig deep if we need to do a 12-hour day… or more. We know that there will be mishaps along the, but that’s all part of it.”

John is hoping to raise £10,000 for the hospice and donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rod-haynes