How are you feeling right now?” I asked as I sat on a picnic table under the eaves of the Bondi Beach Pavilion with a group four sweaty, sun-burned women wearing bright-red jerseys.
“Elated!” said leader Louise Ginn. “Relieved, thrilled—but elated I think is the word.”
“Stoked, on fire, top of the world, top shelf—those things too,” chimed in Anna Lindbeck, never satisfied with just one word.
“Has it sunk in yet?” I asked.
“No, I don’t think it has,” said Sonia Allum. “I know we’re finished, but I can’t get my emotions around that. It’s surreal. I [was thinking] we’ll get up tomorrow and ride some more Ks (kilometres).”
The whole team laughed at that, nodding their heads eagerly. Though they’d just come off their finish line event, with photos, speeches and being sprayed with a bottle of (non-alcoholic) bubbly, the magnitude of their achievement hadn’t sunk in.
I had been waiting alongside a crowd to receive them at the finish line. Amid thousands of beachgoers and tourists, the Ride4Life team had just achieved what no-one else had in cycling history. They had competed a quad tandem bike ride of 4000 kilometres beginning at Scarborough Beach, Perth and ending at Bondi Beach, Sydney—all to raise money for suicide prevention. The journey had taken six weeks and had often been gruelling.
“Sometimes we were waking up at 5am and going to bed at 10pm, and that was day after day after day,” said Lindbeck. “But we were literally talking along the road about mental fitness. I feel like we journeyed through that as a team and grew ourselves in that way”. During the ride, the team visited 11 schools to talk about mental fitness, in conjunction with their partner charity, Gotcha4Life. Every day, nine Australians lose their life to suicide. Gotcha4Life aims to get that number down to zero and Ride4Life is just one small (but significant) part of making that dream a reality.
“Honestly, [the hardest thing] was the social media side,” Rachel Beaden quipped. “Having a camera following me at all times was a challenge—feeling like I have to look like everything’s all together, when sometimes I wasn’t actually feeling that in my head.” The Ride4Life social media team followed the riders 24/7, It wasn’t always easy, but the team felt it important to document both the highs—and the lows. Doing that documenting was an entire behind-the-scenes team of family members and partners from Avondale University, one of which was Kalvin Dever. “We never knew whether there would be a flat tyre or an accommodation issue that needed to be resolved,” he said. “There was a whole lot of logistical work that just needed to happen in the background.” Washing clothes, cooking meals, pitching (and taking down) tents, repairing equipment and documenting the ride: all of it needed to happen, and needed to happen seamlessly. Plus, the media team was constantly working. “The media team spent all day filming, then spent half the night editing and posting content.” Though the four riders were working hard, it took a team to support them through it.
“I’ve learned to step up as a leader,” Said Ginn. I’ve also learned to have some really hard conversations. The team all stepped up. Despite some tension, we were all there for each.” Spending every day for six weeks together—away from partners and kids—was a daunting challenge in itself. Couple that with being physically and emotionally close for most of those six weeks could have been disastrous. But, it did have its rewards.
“I think the most rewarding thing was the people,” said Lindbeck. “We literally met grown men in tears, giving us hundred-dollar bills for the cause [because] they’ve been through something. The amount of people that have opened up to us is insane. It’s been so rewarding having people trust us.” Dever also shared several moments of connection during the trip. “When we were meeting with the Lions [Club] team, a farmer told his story. He was set to kill himself. And he was at peace with all of it.” He then shared how his mates had been there for him, and how it had made all the difference.
Allum brought it back to their mission as Christians. “One thing I’ve loved is [that] from the very beginning, it was a God journey.” She reflected on how God had carried them through the experience, landing on the biblical passage that they had clung to throughout. “This morning, when we looked at the Bible app, what verse popped up?” It was at this moment that she turned around to show me the verse printed on the back of her Jersey. “It was John 10:10: ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’. There have been so many things that have gone wrong and it’s turned into something amazing.”
They’re taking a well-earned breather for now—but don’t expect that to last. Whether it’s cycling across Europe, North America or an entirely new challenge, one thing’s for certain: for this team, the sky’s the limit.
To support the cause, you can still donate by clicking the link below.
