An 83-year-old is kicking off an 8,600-kilometre bicycle journey across Canada June 12 from White Rock’s iconic pier.
Robert Fletcher, who turns 84 in August — when he’ll be in Quebec, according to his route — has cycled more than 50,000 kilometres since he turned 80, exploring several continents including North America, South America, Europe and Australia.
Dubbed the Octogenarian Odyssey, Fletcher will also document his journey through photos, video and social media as well.
A cyclist “pretty much all my life,” Fletcher has been retired for nearly 30 years and has enjoyed cycling for most of it.
“I show a picture when I do some talking of me as a three-year-old on a tricycle,” he quipped Wednesday (June 3).
He used to run and do triathlons as well, before family and work took priority, but after watching a TV series featuring Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman and their cycling and motorcycle adventures, Fletcher was inspired.
“Their last — the third one — was riding electric motorcycles from the bottom of Argentina to Los Angeles and I said, ‘Oh, I can do that, but I’ll ride from the North Pole, Alaska to Panama,’” Fletcher recalled. “I’ll do that to celebrate my 80th (birthday). My goal was to motivate seniors — everybody, really — but mostly seniors, and to say that life isn’t over at retirement. There’s still lots of years left.”
He hopes to encourage people to “live life to the fullest, expand their comfort zone, and be physically and mentally active.”
He enjoyed the North American ride so much, he thought, why not do South America?
“So we did the Cartagena to Colombia tour the following year, six months later, and went down to the bottom of Argentina. And then I thought, ‘Let’s keep going.’”
A European tour followed, from Lisbon, Portugal to Antalya, Turkey, followed by a 15,000-km ride around Australia last year.
Fletcher, who was born in Ontario, uses pedal-assisted electric bicycles, like the sponsored Bulls Bike he’ll use for his cross-Canada tour.
Now residing in Costa Rica for much of the year, he also lives in Edmonton and has family in Langley, where he’ll make a brief stop on Thursday, June 11, before starting his Canadian journey, which will cover “all 10 Canadian provinces.”
There’s a lot that Fletcher enjoys about his cycling journeys, from the every-changing scenery and new roads to traverse, to the people he meets along the way.
“I meet so many people. I have a sign on the back of my bike and it varies … this one is something like 83 years old riding across Canada ask me why,” he said. “It gives people a chance to ask me ‘why,’ and I say, ‘Well, I want to promote active living and seniors and living life to the fullest (while) exploring the country.”
Sometimes, friends new and old will come and cycle with him for parts of the tour.
His wife Gloria organizes accommodation and takes care of all the travel logistics, while his step-daughter will be the driver of the support vehicle this time around, he noted.
The first leg of his journey will take him from White Rock to Chilliwack, a “short,” 73-km jaunt, followed by Chilliwack to Hope, then Lytton, Merritt, Kamloops, Clearwater, Blue River, Valemont and Jasper.
“It’s just a way of connecting with people and spreading the message that we’re all the same everywhere, whether it’s different colour, a different religion, or a different language, or a different culture,” Fletcher shared. “We all want the same thing, to raise our families just be happy and you know, look after your neighbour, that kind of thing.”