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Q: What innovations in cycling technology have you found useful?
Tribars have been a great help, but the most beneficial innovations have been turbo trainers used in
conjunction with heart rate monitors. These have enabled me to control the whole of my training, assessing
my fitness at any time and helping me judge from previous records how to progress to heart rate and
wattage targets. I concentrate on deep breathing when approaching them. This avoids irreparable damage
and is especially important for older people.
Q: What is your approach to training?
At home all major jobs which cause physical strain or mental stress should be completed before undertaking
an annual training routine. The brain needs to be completely clear and concentrated before starting this, not
just at the start of the event. I follow a daily exercise routine, mainly stretching, and find Pilates very helpful
all the year round, and especially when increasing training mileage on the bike. I am fortunate to have the
support of an excellent masseur, specialising in natural therapy, expensive but worth it. Finally, sleep is
important to me. I need 10 hours before I feel like tackling anything.
Q: What have you done (and not done!) to allow you to keep racing into your late 80’s?
We have given up on holidays, which were always cycling with my wife Mary all over the UK and abroad.
We gave up on passports at least 10 years ago.
Q: How many more years do you plan to keep racing?
I have stopped doing 12 hour events now but will continue racing at the other distances while I am still able.
Q: What is your favourite type of time trialling event?
Being a slow starter, I prefer the longer races.
Q: What sacrifices do you make to perform so well in time trialling?
We have no social life in the racing season. Relatives and friends have had to accept this. People generally
find it hard to understand when we refuse invitations. Funerals are of a course a duty and excepted.
Q: How has your season worked out this year?
This season has been my worst so far, disappointing and frustrating. I have completed 10 events, only half
of those planned. It was not possible to plan in the usual way, due to cancellations. Weather and accidents
(not to riders fortunately) generally caused them. One was when I was actually on the start line, first off.
The timekeeper had a phone call, and I got a nasty shock! It has become increasingly difficult to enter by
post, with forms being lost or mislaid. In several cases no start sheet or result sheet arrived. All the officials
have worked hard to keeps things on track, with reruns pushed into the programme, although the final rerun
had to be cancelled. It must have been a nightmare for them.
My first 25 in April was my best this year, and May saw my best 10. Then I did two 25’s, 50 and 100 in
consecutive weeks. After that I did another 50 on the hottest day. I ran out of steam and, having already
had trouble in the other 50, was left with my worst time ever at that distance.
For those with faster qualifying times there were other options available, but for the older and slower riders
only VTTA and ECCA are available, and the latter not always. The odds are stacked against us!
Q: What are you aiming to achieve next season?
To keep up with the top performers on standard I would at least need a new bike, or a new pair of wheels. I
have had to settle for a new chain!
Photo courtesy of Fergus Muir - Peter receiving a welcome sponge from wife Mary during the 2012 ECCA 12

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