BMCR FEATURE: Q&A with Graham Waller

Toks Adesanya’s BMCR Q&A with Graham Waller (Team Bottrill), a category A racer who has been racing for a year since his comeback. Previously, Graham raced for about 8 years in his 20s

BMCR FEATURE: Q&A with Graham Waller by Toks Adesanya

Toks: Welcome young man. Please introduce yourself
Graham: Hi I am Graham Waller and a Cat A racer. I race for Team Bottrill and have been racing for one year since my comeback. Previously I raced for about 8 years in my 20s

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Toks: When did you start cycling?
Graham: I started cycling in 2004 after buying my first racing bike. I started racing the year after when I moved to Sheffield. I have played 5 aside football on and off over the years and over the last few years I have taken up tennis which I think is great for cycling too as its so dynamic.

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Toks: When was your first race and how did it go?
Graham: My first race ever was a TLI race in 2005 I think. It was a handicapped race and for some reason I was set off in the first group so I actually won that race. It wasn’t long before I was sent back to the scratch group with the likes of Adam Blythe.

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Toks: So you’re back racing again as a Master (40+) – how come?
Graham: I raced in my 20s and loved it. As I got to the end of my 20s and kids, work and life got in the way of being able to be competitive so I decided to have a break from racing. As the kids have grown up a little and I have more time, I thought a comeback when I was 40 would be good timing. I was keen to race in the BMCR as I had heard good things in the past about it.

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Toks: Are your family supportive of you coming back to racing?
Graham: Oh my goodness! They are so supportive. It’s not just the racing. It’s the training, the diet, cycling holidays etc…. Its never ending. They are so understanding, its unreal

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Toks: Is it frustrating because there’s not a lot of guys in your age group (A, 40-44) racing?
Graham: Sometimes, I do think in life you need to be careful what you wish for. It could be they are all over subscribed and I couldn’t race them. It may also be the case that there would be more people enter but it be no more competitive. I actually think its probably more frustrating for the organisers and the C & B cats who get us thrown in to their races too.

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Toks: As a BMCR newbie, what’s the reception from other racers been like?
Graham: Amazingly – this is one thing I have been so impressed with. Everyone is so nice and supportive.

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Toks: Were there particular challenges you had to overcome this year?
Graham: Yeah, my biggest challenge is injury. I have been carrying a knee injury most of the season which has been the hardest thing to manage.

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Toks: With quite a lot of spare time, how do you make sure you don’t do too much?
Graham: I work closely with my coach to make sure I don’t overtrain. I am also lucky in that I get a decent amount of down time in the days to recover.

Q&A continues after BMCR advert ….

Toks: Who is your coach?
Graham: My coach is Daniel Barnett or Magicman if you are cool enough to be on Instagram (am not cool enough). He enjoyed a fantastic career as a time trialist also with team Bottrill

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Toks: When did you start racing with BMCR?
Graham: My first race was in March. Round 1 of the Percy Stallard at Darley Moor. It was about 1 degree and felt colder. It either rained hard or not quite as hard. I remember after the race I went and sat back in my car and I couldn’t move because I was so cold!

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Toks: You’re an established strong rider – what number did you bang out on your last FTP test?
Graham: It’s about a year since I last did my FTP test. From memory it was around 325. I actually have one pencilled in for next week so I can tell you if I have improved over the season or not. I actually think my bigger strength is my ability to recover from an effort in a race rather that my max effort being particularly special.

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Toks: Down the years, what have been your best results?
Graham: My best results and times have all come this year. I did a 19.45 10m TT; 50.31 25M TT. I was also part of the fastest Team Bottrill Team at the national Team time trial championships coming 8th overall. I came 2nd in both the TLI and BMCR National Time trial championships.
On the road, I won the TLI Worcester Road Race League, TLI National criterium Champsionships, BMCR National Criterium Championships, National Handicapped Road Race Championships and the Percey Stallard competition.

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Toks: ? How do find out about BMCR races?
Graham: I just check Rider HQ then I do any I can reasonably travel to. Being in Sheffield, I am fairly central in the country so most races are between 1 & 3 hours away

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Toks: Who were your cycling inspirations?
Graham: I got into cycling because of Lance Armstrong. When I first got into cycling, I had his bike and kit. So much so, that everyone called me Lance!

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Toks: Describe the type of rider you are?
Graham: Maybe an all rounder? One thing that I have had said to me this year by a few different people is that I am a ‘real racer’. If I am honest, I am not 100% sure what this means. However, it sounds good and I like the idea that I come across well in a race. One thing I am definitely not is lazy. I will give 100% all the time. Indeed, I attribute my win in the national handicapped road race to this. There was attack after attack in the final lap and I made the conscious decision to go with every attack. It hurt… so much and finally Carl Potter attacked and it stuck. I was the only other person who was able to follow this so managed to take the win from just laying it all out there

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Toks: What were the highs and lows of your 2024 season?
Graham: If I’m honest, I didn’t have too many lows. The lowest was probably the national road race champs where I just had a bad day and came 6th. It was also about my worst result as I finished on the podium for nearly every other race. There were quite a few highs. I was really proud to win my first race back this year when I was at Darley Moor. Was amazing to get the first win in the first race. The national crit champs was another great win as it was my first national championship and winning the Tour of Breedon was special as Matt Bottrill was racing too so not only did I get to race with him but I beat him too.

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Toks: What racers on the Masters scene do you admire?
Graham: Chris Quinn and Mark Smith. Sadly theyre both in cat C so I am not always racing with them but they’re such positive racers always trying to win a race. You can definitely feel the energy in a race when they are there

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Toks: What are your goals for the 2025 season?
Graham: I think if I could replicate my 2024 season that would be good place to start. I would like to do a sub 50 min 25m TT. It would also be nice to compete injury free for 2025

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Toks: What’s your winter training regime been like?
Graham: Pretty relaxed to be honest. Few long rides with 3 shorter more focused sessions in there too

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Toks: How many hours have/will you ride roughly?
Graham: I will do 6-8 hours a week typically over the winter and maybe up to 12 hours a week during the busiest weeks in the summer

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Toks: What are you like if you don’t win a race?
Graham: Losing. I really hate it. I always think I could have done better or done something differently

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Toks: Where’s your favourite place to train?
Graham: I live on the edge of the Peak district so I will go out there when I am out on my bike. Castleton is about an hour away so perfect for a two hour-spin

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Toks: I’m guessing you train mainly with power – is that correct?
Graham: Yes – Mainly power. I have power meters on all my bikes and my indoor setup. When I am racing though I tend to ignore power as you need to put power down when you have to and worry about it after if you can!

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Toks: Do you turbo or Zwift?
Graham: Like with all my bike stuff, I have a pretty decent setup. I run zwift on my computer with a huge wrap round monitor with picture in picture Zwift and Sky. I then have the wahoo bike with the headwind fan and the omnirocker plate to make it as real as possible

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Toks: What other types of cycling do you do? Gravel, MTB, Cyclocross?
Graham: I am pretty focused on road to be fair. I have a TT bike and I entered the MTB champs this year on a bike I borrowed.

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Toks: Do you use the gym or weights to strength train?
Graham: Not really. I would like to but I find it’s a balance between training and weights

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Toks: Give us a number 1 training tip?
Graham: Consistency. I think the specifics matter much less than just being on your bike riding

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Thanks so much Graham Waller. All the best for the 2025 season

Presented by BMCR.org.uk | Bike racing for the over 40s