Rye grandad Simon Aylett on cycling tour of UK coastline

Simon Aylett, 59, previously embarked on a 2,000-mile adventure around the Mediterranean island of Sicily when his doctor broke the news he had only one year of good health left.

Now a revolutionary drug trial has given Simon a new lease of life and he is off on his next adventure on May 30.

The grandad, of Rye, East Sussex, will cycle 4,500 miles around the UK coast with his mini-caravan in tow.

His newfound taste for adventure came after a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2013 which continued to spread despite years of treatment including chemotherapy and surgery to remove his tumour.

With wife Sarah, 59, he created a bucket list and got in the saddle determined to cycle to the southern tip of Europe raising money for NHS cancer research.

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Simon said: "The first trip came after we got the bombshell from the oncologist in 2017 that I had about a year of reasonable health left.

"I remember sitting in the car with my wife Sarah and us both feeling a sense of complete shock.

"We were planning what we could do as a bucket list and I came up with the idea of cycling to Sicily in what became a gastro tour of France and Italy.

"I love sailing and I have always wanted to see a J class 1930s racing yacht in action.

"Sarah quickly found out that four or five of them were racing at Les Voiles sailing regatta in St Tropez and I thought 'why not cycle to it and carry on to the boot of Italy?'

"We couldn't afford to stay in hotels so I thought I'll make a caravan and I'll tow it along on my bike."

Simon's son Ollie, who designs racing cars for a living, turned his dad's sketches of his bicycle trailer into a reality fitted with solar panels, lights, a bed, mini kitchen and even a portable toilet.

The back doors are fitted with solar panels used to charge the velopod battery, powering its motor and lights plus Simon's phone and kettle.

He said: "It's a bedroom, it's a kitchen and it's a trailer. There is just enough room inside to sleep with my legs tucked in under the kitchen.

During his first adventure, Simon cycled 2,000 miles from Sussex to Sicily, catching the ferry from Dover to Calais and cycling along the Champagne Canal in northern France.

He said: "A huge canal boat came by and I got chatting to a few guys onboard who let me hop on for a few miles."

The cyclist then continued onto Dijon, stopping off at the regatta in St Tropez and crossing into Italy through the Ligurian region.

He then journeyed through Pisa, Tuscany, Rome, Naples and Sicily where he was greeted by friends and family at the finish line.

Touring cyclist Simon Aylett's portable home

Simon said: "It was just fantastic.

"When cycling, you discover each country in a whole different way experiencing the smells, the food and seeing the vegetation change with each and every mile – from maize to olives to kiwi fruits.

"Friends joined along the way, we sampled delicious local foods and met new people along the way.

"What really stirs the heartstrings is going around the corner and having the wow factor as you are faced with incredible views, clambering over hills and mountains."

Simon was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013 shortly after his 50th birthday but despite surgery to remove his prostate, the cancer spread.

He embarked on what he considered to be a swansong cycle through Europe in 2017 and packed in his career as a pub and restaurant owner two years later.

But thanks to a revolutionary drug trial, he is off again on another epic adventure in May.

Simon said: "Realistically I thought it was my last trip in every meaning of the word. There wasn't really any hope of medically slowing down or treating the cancer.

"By the end of 2019 I had to give up work and hand over my pub and restaurant business in Rye as I really was not well enough to continue.

"Then just as the dreadful Covid was emerging, I started the trial and I'm now planning to cycle anticlockwise around the UK."

Plotted on his Strava app, Simon will cycle on a 73-day tour around the UK.

Cycling 60 miles a day, his trip will even include his 35th wedding anniversary celebrations on the Isle of Mull in Scotland.

He said: "On May 30, I will leave my driveway, turn left and within a couple of miles I will have the sea on my right hand side and I will keep it on my right hand side until I arrive home."

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Simon's new lease of life has also seen him become a granddad for the first time in February with the arrival of his granddaughter Phoebe.

He said: "Becoming a grandparent is an extraordinary milestone in life and one that if you'd asked me two or three years ago, I would say I would never get to experience.

"Now we've hit that one and my next target milestone is to hand around long enough to hear her say 'grandpa.'"

In his European cycle tour, Simon smashed his £10,000 target and raised an impressive £40,000 for Prostate Cancer UK.

He is now almost half way towards hitting his £10,000 fundraising target for The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, specifically for their cancer research and drug development unit.

The grandad's training is already underway, cycling 30 miles a day and rebuilding his stamina before his 300-mile-a-week adventure.

Simon added: "I am already pedalling away to my heart's content.

"My driving force is to raise money for the NHS Marsden because they do a fantastic job and I would not be here doing this if it was not for them."