Airdrie great–grandfather is born to be wild

Feb 10 2010 by Gordon Robertson, Airdrie & Coatbridge

Airdrie great–grandfather is born to be wild

MOST people who turn age 70 want to take it easy – but for one Airdrie man it was time to live life in the fast lane.

Young-at-heart Joe Simeon, a great-grandfather from Rawyards, went out and bought a motorbike when he entered his eighth decade.

The open road was more appealing than the armchair for a man who was born in the year the Second World War started.

He told the Advertiser: “I just love getting on the bike and getting out on the road, it’s great.

“My family think I am off my head, but my kids just say, ‘on you go dad’. They know what I am like so it was no surprise to them when I said I wanted a motorbike.

“It’s a Pioneer Nevada and it’s only 125cc but it looks a bigger bike.

“The last time I had a motorbike I was 18-years-old and it was my dad’s, but I have always loved bikes and I saw that one and thought, ‘I am having that’.

“I saw it online and I went down to Saltcoats with a van and picked it up. It feels brilliant to be out on it.”

Another passion of Joe’s is the USA, where his sister Nancy lives.

When out visiting her in California, Joe accepted an invite to help run a massive fireworks display to celebrate the fourth of July, Independence Day.

He helped set up and coordinate the huge, colourful explosions at the event near San Diego.

Joe said: “A friend of my sister’s runs a firework display and he asked me to get involved. It was some operation. I had to wear a fireman’s uniform when we set off the fireworks. It was brilliant.”

So when it’s not motorbikes and fireworks, what does Joe do to relax?

“I love all kinds of music,” he told the Advertiser at his Hamilton Drive home. “I am a big Frank Sinatra fan but I love SuBo. When I heard her for the first time, she just blew me away.”

West Lothian’s finest shot to fame by singing I Dreamed a Dream, but this Airdrie great-grandfather certainly lives the life.