Britain's oldest cycling champion is eyeing up another title despite being 89 - and says he'll never stop racing. <br /><br />Walter Fowler racked up another win this month as he faced off younger riders to claim the crown in an over 80's 2km sprint race with a time of 3.17 minutes.<br /><br />The retired marketing manager - known affectionately as Wally to friends - has cycled all over the world after taking up the hobby when he was aged 15 in 1949.<br /><br />Walter, who has one grown-up son, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, believes he is Britain's oldest competitive track cyclist. <br /><br />He previously broke the record in a one-hour endurance race at the Geraint Thomas velodrome in Wales in 2019 in the 85-89 category covering 34.602km/21.5miles.<br /><br />On October 7 he beat dozens of cyclists when he won the 2km pursuit event at the 2023 World Masters Track Championships in Manchester.<br /><br />Walter, who says he plans to compete into his 90s, said: “My parents had no money in the Second World War and I had no bike until the slaughter was well and truly over. <br /><br />"Then I had one and I couldn't get enough of it. I must have cycled over a million miles in my life and I've enjoyed every one of them.<br /><br />"What we had we earned and appreciated – my first bike came from a paper round.<br /><br />“Now, more than 70 years later, life would not be normal or even acceptable if I could not, for any reason, ride my bike. <br /><br />"It is nice, of course, to race, but it is certainly not necessary to win. <br /><br />"Indeed, as every amateur knows, there is no stronger advocate and supporter in this enduring pastime than the one who knows before he starts that he may come last. <br /><br />"He enters the event because he can and he likes it. It is his way of life and it is mine. It is a good life.<br /><br />“My wife, Margaret, supported my cycling for 50 years and when she died in 2014 I resolved with her spirit to continue riding and racing.<br /><br />“I hope to have a few more years doing the best I can in the masters’ framework that allows fair, age-related competition.<br /><br />"If I cannot race, perhaps I shall find a mountain to climb.”<br /><br />Walter, who turns 90 next April, is already eyeing his next challenge - to beat the world record one-hour endurance test for the over 90s.<br /><br />The current record is held by America cyclist Carl Grove but Walter believes he can beat his 21.5 miles he set five years ago.<br /><br />Walter said: "I’m one of the oldest champions, certainly British. I can’t claim the world as Carl Grove of America is currently number one but I'm coming for his record.<br /><br />"I'll have to be as good as I was when I was 84 but I believe I've still got it in me to beat the record. The secret to endurance tests is to keep the same pace throughout.<br /><br />"It's a mental as well as physical test but I have proved I can compete with people much younger than me so I just keep going.<br /><br />"When you hit a certain rhythm during the test you do it almost automatically. I just try and keep going, not burst out too fast, and keep a steady speed throughout."<br /><br />The pensioner began cycling at 15 and began racing almost immediately, but had to give it up to focus on his career. <br /><br />He toured the UK and Europe throughout the 70's and 80's but returned to racing at 74 after having an urge to compete. <br /><br />Walter said: "I was still fit at the age of 74 but I had a niggling feeling if I was good enough to ride on track.<br /><br />"When I was studying for the diploma in marketing the cycling tended to drop off. When I resumed again in the 70s it was in touring. It was the early 60s. <br /><br />"Exercise has been very important to me. I do it every day. I spend half an hour doing it everyday. It’s part of building an adequate body. You can be prone to injury if not. <br /><br />"I thought can I still do it. It was always my first love. I wanted to know if I could first sprint. <br /><br />"I was all very fit from having cycled on the continent. I could take on racing more or less and immediately. <br /><br />"When I came back to the track in 2007 I started on my old track bike that I bought in 1951. It did the job.<br /><br />"There’s pride in being the oldest track champion but I don’t think about it much, I’ve been so used it for so long."<br /><br />Dave Viner, of Halesowen Athletic & Cycling Club, said: “Wally is an inspiration to any person who values good health and fitness in later years.<br /><br />“To be a national age group champion in any sport - riding on a 45-degree world class cycle track at Manchester is something else.”
