Arthur Plummer, a 92-year-old resident of Waterloo, Ontario, continues to cycle approximately 5,000 kilometres every year, despite a serious collision with a car that left him unconscious and broke his helmet. His odometer for the current year already reads 4,270 kilometres (2,650 miles), and he planned to ride another 40 kilometres after a recent conversation.
From retirement hobby to lifelong passion
Plummer bought a secondhand bicycle when he retired at 65. His sister, already a member of a local seniors' cycling club, encouraged him to join, and he became one of its youngest members at the time. Now, at 92, he is the club's oldest member but remains highly active.
“I love cycling,” Plummer said. “Wherever I go, even if I ride on the same roads, there’s something new happening. When I get on my bike, I feel great. I come home at about 3pm and I feel exhausted. However, it’s the nicest feeling. It’s exhilarating, and it’s resulted in me being extremely healthy.”
Overcoming health challenges through cycling
In his late 80s, Plummer developed polymyalgia rheumatica, an inflammatory condition causing pain and stiffness in the shoulders, neck, and hips. The condition left him unable to walk and confined to a wheelchair. He recalled sitting in his driveway, feeling trapped as people passed by. Determined, he reasoned that if he could get on his bike, he could ride, and he did.
Although his legs remain strong, walking is still uncomfortable. He has a shortened stride and sometimes struggles to keep up with his wife and friends on holiday. Cycling, however, brings him freedom. Plummer has cycled on every accessible street within 100 square miles (260 square kilometres) of his home, often taking his bike on the bus to explore farther areas. “I’m looking for new vistas,” he said.
Early life and career
Plummer was born in 1934, a time when, as he noted, “it was the norm to not have money.” His father worked in a rubber factory, while his mother managed the home and worked as a waiter and sales assistant in a clothes shop. “There were few luxuries. It was a tough life, but it was a good life,” he said. He observed that his classmates were either rich or poor, and they stayed apart, adding, “It was an advantage to be poor, because you had more friends.”
After college, Plummer worked as an estimator or quantity surveyor, initially on hydro projects in northern Quebec, before returning to Ontario. He became a single parent to three daughters, then aged nine, 11, and 13, which he described as “a wonderful experience.” Later, he partnered with four others in a company overseeing construction and renovation projects in schools. The job proved stressful, and after a colleague suffered a heart attack, he decided to change careers. At 50, he became a municipal building inspector, a position he held until retirement.
Risks and resilience
Plummer once rode at a maximum sustained speed of 25 kilometres per hour, but now his pace has dropped to between 15 and 20 kilometres per hour. He has reduced his annual distance target to 5,000 kilometres. He stopped skiing at 90 for fear of breaking a limb, but he has gone over his handlebars six times. A few years ago, he collided with a car that ran a red light, escaping with cuts and bruises.
Describing the incident, Plummer said, “I apparently went head first on to the road, broke my helmet and passed out. People tell me that when I woke, I ran straight to my bike. There is a kind of a connection between the rider and the bike.”
Urban life and a bond with his bike
A couple of years ago, Plummer moved into a high-rise apartment, “living the urban lifestyle downtown,” and now keeps his carbon-fibre Cannondale bike on a rack next to his bed. “My bike is my best friend,” he said. “We are a team.” If he wakes in the night, he acknowledges his bike “with a greeting: ‘Hey there, buddy’.”
Cycling continues to fuel his energy. “I am so full of energy, I can’t believe it myself sometimes. I want to get out and use that energy to cycle,” he said. “I hope my last day is on my bike. I have a saying: I’m cycling to eternity and it’s further than I thought.”
