'I broke two ribs and had six stitches' – 87-year-old becomes one of oldest LEJOG finishers despite nasty crash

Brian Lewis was two days off finishing his Land’s End to John o’ Groats challenge when he ended up in a heap on the floor. It was a Thursday evening, rush hour in Inverness, and the 87-year-old’s hotel for the night was just two miles away. The run-in was mostly downhill.

“Then I hit a massive pothole,” he says. “The bike went one way, I went the other. I lost the front wheel and consequently ended up that night in Inverness A&E department.”

By that point, Lewis had ridden for 12 days straight. He had set out from England’s southernmost tip, passed through his home in Gloucestershire, and climbed up and over the Scottish border. Still dressed in his cycling kit, he waited patiently in the hospital.

“I was fortunate that the registrar walked in with his doctor’s accreditation around his neck, and it was hanging on a UCI tabard thing, so I was in straight away. Both the doctors I saw were cyclists,” he tells Cycling Weekly.

The diagnosis was clear: “I’d broken two ribs, and had six stitches in the knee, which was very difficult to bend,” he says. But while many would have called it a day on the bike ride, Lewis found a deeper will to continue. “They looked at me and said, ‘You’re not going to stop are you?’” he recalls, “and I said, ‘No!’”

Two days later, Lewis arrived in John o’ Groats at the head of his 18-rider group. The final stretch was a struggle, he says, but he was able to pose for photos beside the famous signpost, bandaged up, as one of the oldest riders to ever complete the challenge. The near 900-mile trip took him just 14 days.

“Initially, I was going after the title of being the oldest, but unfortunately a 90-year-old vicar beat me – he had the Lord on his side,” Lewis laughs. “He did it in a month… According to Pedal Britain, who ran the ride, I’m the fastest over 80.”

Born in the late 1930s, Lewis took up cycling at the age of 14, when he joined his local Royal Forest of Dean Cycling Club. He continued to ride through his teenage years, but later fell out of the habit as an adult.

It wasn’t until his mid-seventies, following the death of his wife, Christine, that Lewis rediscovered his love for the bicycle. “It was a massive life change because we were married for 50 years,” he says. “I hadn’t ridden a bike for 15 years.”

By way of dealing with the bereavement, he dusted off his old bike from the garage, replaced the perished inner tubes, and began by riding just five miles. Soon after, he rode 10 miles, and then 20. Fast forward to 2023, and Lewis was a world champion, winning the master’s time trial in his 85-89 age bracket in Glasgow.

“That was my dream day,” he says, his "cider accent" coming to the fore. “I think there were 450 riders, and I was the oldest. They actually gave me a motorbike escort. It was like the Tour de France.”

In fact, Lewis was the only competitor in his field that day, meaning he only had to finish to secure a rainbow jersey. “It proved to me that, if I keep going, the competition will die,” he laughs.

“In the UK, they publish a list each year of riders who have raced over age 80. I’m number six on the list, and I’m creeping up.”

For his LEJOG challenge, Lewis began training last winter, riding long-distance audax events with his friend, Sue. He knew what it would take to complete the 900-odd miles – he had ridden them before, aged 81 in 2019, when it took him two weeks, the same time he managed earlier this month.

His latest effort, he says, felt “relentless – this time it was harder. I’m six years older and the hills have gotten steeper.”

Will he be back in three years to beat the vicar’s record? “I don’t know about that. I may have to take up the faith,” he adds with a laugh.

Almost a week has now passed since Lewis rode into John o’ Groats. His body is still black and blue with bruising from his crash, and his stitched-up knee continues to cause him trouble. “As a trial, I went out on an electric bike yesterday and I managed to get about 18 miles in, to flex the body again,” he says.

It’s all part of a mantra that the 87-year-old likes to live by: “Adventure not dementia.”

“I really believe that your physical condition is related very much to your mental state – they go hand in glove. There are so many people that retire and end up doing nothing and vegetate,” Lewis says. “I don’t want to be one of them.”

Brian Lewis is raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of his wife, Christine. Donations can be made via his JustGiving page.