Vale - Nigel Peter Dickin

17 November 1962 - 22 May 2005

Liam Dickin wrote a very touching short speech about his dad.

Before I say anything my family and I would like to thank everyone for attending today. It was an horrific thing that happened on the 22nd of May, but what a glorious day. You may think we are mad to say that, but we think that Dad wrote the story. Dad was having a ball that day. He was up at the crack of dawn raring to go and dragged everyone with him. Just so you know Dad had lost his license because he was caught doing a mono by the police who, of course, followed him home. What does Dad do - well he grabs a beer and sits down and asks the officers what the problem is!

With the loss of his license it was down to Mum to take him plus trailer and bike to race meets. We can image what Mum thought of that! Dad was so into his racing, chatting in the pits, helping other riders with their bikes. As he was on that day. He was full of the atmosphere of the day and doing so well. To sum up he went out doing something he loved and how many people can say that.

He always said that this is the way he would want to go and that we should mix his ashes with petrol and put them in an engine and let rip! Sorry, but we are not going to do that.

I think everyone here today would believe me when I say that the term 'never judge a book by its cover' comes to mind when you think about my dad, you shouldn't let the leather jackets, big earring, and brightly coloured goaties fool you.

He was always there to lend a helping hand no matter what the problem. If it was fixing your computer to pulling tiles off your roof, so he could climb through because you left 2 sets of keys inside.
He became a volunteer for RAID (recreational activities for people with an intellectual disability) being involved in camps and weekly basketball games, later becoming a coach of one of the teams. Of course that wasn't enough for Dad he later decided to do a level 1 basketball coaching course. You can guess the rest - they won the league.

As you all know he was a perfectionist. Nothing was good enough for him. He would always push himself til he was happy or unless someone gave him a certificate to say he did well. He'd always go that extra bit.

As well as giving his donations to charity, he heard about the Snowy Ride - riding your bike whilst raising money for kids with cancer. Of course, he jumped at the opportunity to organise everything with his mates from work so they could have a weekend away while doing their bit for charity. To the Snowy Riders here - have a great time next week on the ride. Ride safe and have a beer for Dad.

No matter where we were Dad would be the 1st to make friends, I honestly felt like a bit of a loser when people were stopping us on the street to say hello to my Dad instead of me.

But that is the kind of guy he was. He could talk to anyone and everyone. It still amazes me the amount of people, when they find out I am his son, can tell a story about him and the respect they have for him. I think everyone that knew him would say that they are proud that they knew him, because I'm sure as hell that I am.