Ross Mantel, 82, became the first Briton to travel one million miles (over 1.6 million kilometers) on his bicycle after adding five miles (eight kilometers) to his credit on Thursday as he headed to a coffee shop.
The retired civil servant kept counting the number of miles he had traveled since his first bike in 1952.
Mantel carefully recorded every distance he went to work, when he participated in local races or on mountain roads in Europe and America.
"Passing one million miles is a milestone achievement," he said.
Although it is not known how many people may have traveled that distance, Mantel is the first to record how many miles he has traveled.
"I have always written down. I think everything should be recorded, even the incidents I have encountered. I have always been careful," said the 80-year-old.
The old amateur also suffered some accidents. "I can remember very clearly what happened to me when cars and trucks hit me, I was shaken and I spent three days in a hospital in Southampton after an accident with a truck," he said.
Nicolas Marshall, director of the British Cycling Federation, hopes Mantel's experience will encourage more people to ride their bikes.
"We are aiming to add a million new people to bike users," she said.