Meet the 65 year old who races distances that make the Tour of Flanders look like a sprint: "There's no magic potions"
Cycling
All cyclists are a little bit crazy. What they put their
bodies through, day after day, over countless miles, is nothing short of
extraordinary. Take for example this weekend, when the world’s best riders take
on the Tour of Flanders, in 268km of brutal cobbled hills.
But Cycling Weekly recently spoke to a man whose
story stands out, even in this world of extremes. To him, 268km is nothing.
Joe Barr, a former Commonwealth Games medallist and National
Champion, is now in his 60s. And instead of winding down, the Northern Irishman
has found new purpose and fulfilment in ultra-distance racing.
Barr has twice completed the grueling Race Across America,
winning his age category once. He’s also won the Race Around Ireland twice and
was crowned the 2023 World Ultra Cycling Champion. Add to that a string of
world and Guinness World Records, and it’s clear he’s built a second career as
impressive as his first.
"It's better because it's more enjoyable," he told
Cycling Weekly’s Going Long podcast. "It's better because I
was probably more successful at it and… on my own terms."
For Barr, the appeal of ultra racing has never been about
the bike itself. Instead, it’s his fascination with the human body and how it
performs under pressure that drives him.
"My interest in pushbike riding was probably bypassed
by my interest in nutrition," he said. "I always was more interested
in how the body worked than I was about the bike. I just had a good bike,
always presented very well and blah blah blah. But I knew that that bike was
not going anywhere without me to push it. So I was focused on 'how does this
work?'"
His mindset is grounded in simplicity and structure, not
quick fixes or gimmicks. "There's no magic potions," he said.
Sleep, too, is central to his performance. "The other
big thing for me is that I was always – and still am – a great believer that
sleep is a core piece of this whole thing. So I go to bed at 9.30 every night,
and I will sleep soundly right until 8 o'clock in the morning," Barr said.
That discipline, he believes, is one of his great strengths.
"You get into this model that's almost a bit regimented," he said.
"So I always think that I would have made a great military guy, because I
like the regimented timings and whatever."
Looking back, Barr sees his last 15 years in ultra-cycling
as the most rewarding chapter of his life.
"The last 15 years of ultra has been just the most
incredible journey. There's absolutely no way I could have sat 25 years ago and
ever imagined that as a rider or as a person that I could actually achieve some
of the stuff that I actually have achieved."
And yet, he’s not done yet. His next major goal is to set a
Guinness World Record by riding the full length of Route 66 in what will be his
66th year.
"It's 100 years old next year," Barr said.
"So the first highway ever in the US is 100 years old next year. It goes
through eight states and it's just short of 2,500 miles long.
"We're going in June this year to recce the whole
course and then next June we're going to do it. No one's managed to... it's a
Guinness World Record… there's been a few attempts."
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- I think that they're not really used to dealing with this type of incident in a cyclocross race, and the situation has been magnified because it was a race for a championship title. It's very unfortunate that the race had to be decided in this way.
santiagobenites07-11-2026 - Seriously why do they keep doing stupid things like this. Its one thing to relegate when the placings are minor, when the action is blatant. But when it is ambiguous, why dont they at least take advice from some higher up to avoid embarrassing themselves. This is similar to the Halland goal when his teammate was clearly offside and interfered in play and VAR gave them the goal. if you dont have evidence you cannot convict. Even for doping they have these rulesabstractengineer07-11-2026
- So all those who went to watch, including all from abroad, waled there, spent nothing? Most places hosting events of the sort manage to make it worthwhile. If it was so obviously fruitless, don’t you think by now they’d have run out of hosting candidates? Why do you think the Tour can command such high prices for departure and arrival locations? If it didn’t bring anything locally they’d have to pay to get authorisation to use cities.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- What a travesty ! That little deviation did nothing to impede Brand !frieders307-11-2026
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