When Michael Du Plessis emigrated from South Africa to WA in 2000, he bought a bicycle as an easy way to get around.
Little did he know that in 2022, he would take part in his 14th Life Cycle for Canteen.
The 61-year-old Queens Park resident said he was first invited on the Life Cycle by a friend back in 2005, and he was almost immediately hooked.
“In the beginning cycling was just a ways and means of getting around, it gave me a lot of freedom,” he said.
“I haven’t done 14 in a row, with work commitments, but its great, you can go there and people you haven’t seen in a year, it’s like you just saw them yesterday.
“The people you meet are the biggest part of it for me, they’re just a great bunch of people who want to help out for a good cause.
“Supporting a cause like Canteen makes you feel good, and to do that with really good people around you is just great.”
While he never thought he would do 14 rides, there’s not stopping him now.
“I didn’t think, when I did that first ride, that I’d be there for 13 more rides but because of those friends you make you just keep going back.
“I’m 62 this year, and I’ll have a red-hot crack of getting to 30, 40 rides, as long as it keeps running, I’ll keep popping up to raise money for a good cause.
“If anyone is on the fence about doing the Life Cycle I would say definitely come along, it’s so well organised, it’s for a good cause, raising money for kids living with cancer, and I can’t stress enough that the friends you make along the way are by far the best part of the ride.”
