‘Complete inspiration to all of us’: Retired London doctor still riding velodrome at 85 years old

An 85-year-old retired London doctor completed 85 laps at the velodrome over the weekend with no plans to slow down. CTV’s Brent Lale reports.

Jim Gilchrist is embracing turning 85 years old.

“I think it’s partly a denial of the aging process,” said the retired oncologist. “I don’t want to believe it.”

On March 7, 2026, his 85th birthday, Gilchrist was ripping around the Forest City Velodrome (FCV). He had planned to do 85 laps to match his age, but he just kept on going until he lost count.

“I have always been pretty active because my brain needs that,” said Gilchrist. “This track is a godsend because I can ride in the winter.”

His riding skills are impressive because the FCV is the shortest, steepest indoor velodrome in the world.

“When I first started here 13 years ago, it was petrifying,” added Gilchrist. “When you get on it at first, it’s neither probable or possible and the corners disappear.”

He’s come to love the facility which has nearly shuttered multiple times in the past decade, including an announcement last fall that it would close.

Once again, someone stepped up and helped cover the operating costs.

The financial struggles were one of the reasons Gilchrist invited friends, family and the media to the facility on the weekend.

“I desperately want to keep this place going because it’s a unique facility,” he said.

As he rode lap after lap keeping pace with cyclists’ decades younger, he motivated those in attendance.

“He’s a complete inspiration to all of us,” said his niece, Laura Westbury. “To just keep moving and defy what it means to be aging in this world. He can ride his bike all the way from London to Port Stanley and he just does it on weekends for fun. So, it’s never too late to get out there and get active.”

Gilchrist was born and raised in England and studied radiation oncology there before coming to Toronto to get more experience. After two years at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, he got a job in the cancer clinic at London’s Victoria Hospital in 1971.

He even left for four months to go to an Ethiopian refugee camp in 1985 during the famine and was there as part of ‘Camp London.’

“Then I went back for another year, and I became obsessed by and went back for another year,” said Gilchrist.

It was the beginning of a long-term relationship for him and other locals who founded the Future Forests of London.

Coun. Skylar Franke was on site for his birthday to present him with special recognition on behalf of Mayor Josh Morgan.

He then shared a funny story about riding in the United States.

“Cycling in the velodrome is a bit different than cycling on the road because you have to be extremely aware of your surroundings,” started Gilchrist.

“If somebody gets a bit wobbly, you yell ‘Stick!’ which means hold your line. We were going along fairly quickly on a double line on the road, and somebody yelled ‘Stick!’ and I did and I hit it!” he recalled.

Hitting that stick was far from his most serious injuries over the years which included a hip replacement after a fall while riding in England.

“Riding here really teaches you to be safe,” he explained. “I think every road rider should learn to ride on the velodrome because it teaches you awareness.”

He’s drawn inspiration from Andy Christie from Delhi who rode at the FCV until he was 94. He says his idol is Frenchman Robert Marchand who was riding at 105.

He’s got 20 years to go to catch Marchand.

“I just hope to keep going until I get so old and stupid I can’t find a bike,” joked Gilchrist.