MILLION MILE MAN

After 68 years logging every ride, Russ Mantle recently rode his one-millionth mile, and Owen Rogers was there to see it

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Along line of cyclists rolls gently along the muddy Basingstoke Canal path. The oldest is at the front, his white and blue Holdsworth showing its age, its rider wearing a blue jacket, his ironed trousers tucked into bicycle clips.

Constantly pointing out hazards and giving advice to anyone close enough to hear, there is one like him in every club in every town. But there’s no one quite like Russ Mantle.

As we near a cafe about five miles into the ride from his Aldershot home he stops and announces he’s just ridden his one-millionth mile.

One million. That’s 1,609,344km. Or 14,700 miles a year for 68 years.

Cycling UK has organized a reception and applause echoes through the trees as he breaks a ribbon before facing the gathered press. Even France TV have come from their London bureau. For a while, 82-year-old Mantle is lost in the throng.

“I was absolutely overwhelmed,” he tells us later. “It’s just another milestone, I’ve just kept going. I never really stopped cycling at all since I first had a bike in 1951 and I’ve gone on from there.

“My lowest ever mileage has been eight and a half thousand miles, but I shall only reach about 8,000 this year, but my best was 22,550 in ’01.”

Early years

Our gentle ride was a far cry from Mantle’s early years in the saddle. He began writing down every mile ridden after his father bought him his first bike, and within three years he was racing. He took the Farnham RC 10- mile record in 1956 with a 22.19, breaking his own 25-mile standard in 1961 with 57.11. Both records stood until 1987.