Breaking boundaries is a way of life for paraplegic motorcylist Talan Skeels-Piggins. Sam Burne-James parks up in Ashtead.
Paralympian; naval officer; public speaker; charity founder: Talan Skeels-Piggins is a man of many hats.
Or helmets. For rising above a striking landscape of success, one accomplishment in particular defines the dogged determination of this instinctive overcomer. Paralysed below the chest by a motorbike accident in 2003, the Surrey resident, now 45, is the first paraplegic in motorsport history to compete in solo bikes with able-bodied racers.
“I don’t like being told what I can’t do” he tells me at his Ashtead home.
Even before the crash, however, Skeels-Piggins was a man of action. Brought up in rural Cornwall, he enjoyed an idyllic, Swallows and Amazons childhood spent sailing and windsurfing, and by 18 was all geared up to become a windsurfing pro.
Potential sponsors were impressed – his parents less so. Prevailed upon to join the Navy instead, Talan served from 1991 to 1996, went travelling for a while and then returned home to become a PE teacher in Bath.
“After that I wanted to go to Africa for two years – I’d got a job in Mombasa – then come back to be head of department and then headteacher,” he explains. “That was my 10-year plan. But then I got run over by a car, which changed everything.”
Not that Talan was going to let partial paralysis disqualify him from the pursuit of life. Shortly before the accident, he had joined the Royal Naval Reserve – and he had no intention of leaving.
“I didn’t feel I needed to,” he insists.
And so, after passing fitness tests in a wheelchair, in 2006 he persuaded the Forces to keep him on in a desk-based role with the Allied Worldwide Navigation Information System – a historic precedent from which many others with disabilities have since benefited.
“I don’t like it when people take my choices away,” says Talan, a frequent motivational speaker at schools and corporate events. “A lot of disabled people feel like that, but it needn’t be that way.
“When I first thought I’d quite like to get back on a motorbike, there were those who said that it could never happen – but it did. So then I decided that I wanted to race, and I made that happen too.”
Indeed. But not before a long, successful detour into the world of skiing, during which Talan set out to represent Great Britain at the Winter Paralympics. This he accomplished in 2010, using a sit-ski to compete in three competitions, with 15th as his highest finish. The following year saw him crowned as European Champion in the super giant slalom.
Another motorcycle accident – this time in a race, in 2013 – banished hopes of further alpine glory, but two of Talan’s coaching charges are medal contenders for the Paralympics in 2018.
However, it is motorbikes that now dominate his life. His presence in able-bodied competition follows a tough fight with the sport’s governing body, but the struggle has certainly borne fruit: he is now the reigning paraplegic 600cc World Champion and is soon to launch an assault upon the land speed record for paralysed riders.
And then there is The Bike Experience, a charity founded by Talan in 2011 to give people with disabilities a chance to ride. For some, it has been a pathway into racing; for many others, simply a confidence boost.
“I’ve had letters saying things like: ‘For 17 years after his accident my husband did nothing, but since The Bike Experience he’s a totally changed person.’ It really develops self-confidence.”
Talan draws no salary, but clearly relishes the work.
“It’s not often that you can say that your actions have changed someone’s life.”
Now the four-wheeled world beckons. For no matter how he performs in qualifying, his need for people to hold the bike at the start of a race means that, in motorcycling, Talan is always at the back of the grid. In a car, that problem is gone. When he lines up in the first race of the Porsche Club Championship this month, he will have the chequered flag in his sights.
“If I can start where I qualify, perhaps I can get onto the podium,” he enthuses.
When the pace slackens, however, and the roar of engines briefly subsides, Talan loves Surrey life. After nine years in small, temporary post-accident accommodation in Bath, he moved to Ashtead in 2012, thanks to veterans charity Haig Housing Trust.
“I really enjoy it here. I grew up in Cornwall, so my heart is in the countryside. It’s so peaceful here, so beautiful, and everyone is friendly and looks out for each other. It’s nice to be part of that.”
Aside from Surrey’s great outdoors, Talan is passionate about supporting local shops, reserving particular praise for the coffee and paninis at Handley’s Café on The Street, Ashtead, and for Thai Pinto restaurant in Leatherhead.
“You don’t feel like just another number at these places,” he says, contrasting them favourably with the more impersonal feel of Bath. “Everyone takes care of you.”
As for his 10-year plan, knocked hopelessly out of shape by the turbulent events of 2003, Talan has not lost sight of the original goal.
“When all of this, all the racing, comes to an end, who’s to say I can’t still become a headteacher?”
Only a fool, I suggest.
Why not check out The Bike Experience next riding days on the 21st, 24th and 28th April here.
