Meet the 87-year-old Hour Record holder: 'If you haven’t got the mind to do it, you’ll never do it physically'

In the race to ride as far as possible in one hour, John Lee is literally peerless. Here, he explains why age is no barrier to setting records

Photo: Daniel Gould

The only other person to hold three Hour Records in this country is Chris Boardman,” says John Lee. “There’s nobody who has ever done it on outdoor tracks.”

This September, 87-year-old Lee rode 18.815 miles on the velodrome at Welwyn Garden City, an unparalleled distance in British cycling’s record books for a man his age.

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Simon Smythe

Simon Smythe is a hugely experienced cycling tech writer, who has been writing for Cycling Weekly since 2003. Until recently he was our senior tech writer. In his cycling career Simon has mostly focused on time trialling with a national medal, a few open wins and his club's 30-mile record in his palmares. These days he spends most of his time testing road bikes, or on a tandem doing the school run with his younger son.