Celebrity speed king Guy Martin got on his bike and joined a race held in honour of a cyclist left paralysed after an accident.

It is under two months since motorcycle racer, mechanic and TV presenter Martin suffered fractures to his vertebrae, spine, ribs and damaged his hand when he crashed while leading the Dundrod 150 Superbike race in Northern Ireland but that didn’t stop him cycling 59 miles in the Ride for Michael around the Eden Valley.

Mr Martin smiled and insisted he was okay when asked how he was recovering after the crash.

He said: “It’s all for a good cause. Michael’s a legend.

“His passion still comes across for the whole thing. He started the whole mountain bike path.”

Michael Bonney, 57, came off his bike between Murton and Dufton in the Eden Valley in 2013, suffering a devastating injury to his spine. He was left paralysed from the neck down and needs a ventilator to breathe – though he has improved so much since his accident that he now can regularly breathe without the ventilator’s aid for several hours at a time.

He lives in an adapted home in Eamont Bridge, Penrith, doing consultancy work on a variety of projects in the bike industry and beyond. He is still passionate about cycling and wants to encourage as many people as possible to get on bikes.

Mr Bonney said: “It’s great to see everybody out riding. It’s what it’s all about.

“One of the things you don’t want is for people to be put off by accidents like what happened to me.”

Michael Bonney: ’One of the things you don’t want is for people to be put off by accidents’

The Michael Bonney Ride was set up in 2013 to raise money for Mr Bonney’s trust, which raises funds to buy him equipment.

The funds were recently used to buy a custom-built Boma 7 off-road wheelchair, which has enabled Mr Bonney to get back out on the fells and enjoy scenery he used to cycle to see.

With the help of generous friends, fundraising and a Government grant, Mr Bonney was able to buy the wheelchair for £12,000.

The funds raised from this year’s ride will go towards a Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) bike. In FES, electric current is applied to paralysed or weakened muscles to stimulate the lower motor neurons that connect the spinal cord to muscles and this evokes a patterned movement of legs or arms.

Cyclists came from across Cumbria and further afield to take part in the two races of 30 miles and 59 miles. Around 200 people took part, down from 400 who did it last year and around 1,000 who took part in the first year.

Organisers said they wanted to come up with a different event next year to inspire more people to get involved.

By Freya Findlay