So many rural and remote communities feel forgotten, often because they are. Unlike their metro counterparts, they can rarely access the services and support they need, when they need it. Break the Cycle, a bunch of committed mental health workers with reasonable (not great) cycling abilities, ride through towns and communities to show them the support is right there, in the form of friends and neighbours.
In 2018, a group of committed and foolhardy staff and community members from Wagga Wagga and surrounds set off on bikes for a 560km journey across the Murrumbidgee, raising awareness and providing support to small, rural communities who often feel isolated from supports. This journey became known as “Break the Cycle”. It almost broke the riders!
The Break the Cycle team, now with four annual rides under their belt, brings in people, often with lived experience of suicide, to ride to different rural communities in NSW. In their exhausted state in grubby lycra they break down stigma, promote help seeking and encourage conversations about mental wellbeing and suicide prevention. Riders meet the community where they are at and authentically listen to their stories, and share their own. This journey celebrates self reflection, shared experiences and healing.
The most recent ride in March 2023 saw the weary riders visit Murrumbidgee communities impacted by devastating floods, hot on the heels of recovering from the impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic. The team heard first hand the long-lasting effects these disasters had on livelihoods, relationships, cumulative losses in families and communities. For the riders, these emotional accounts came on the back of riding over 120kms that day. Riders were often confronted by their own life experiences, reflections on their own hardship and wellbeing struggles. These mutual connections are truly inspirational and life changing. It was an emotional ride.
We ride so that rural communities know that whilst we can’t always be present in their communities, we see them and we hear them. And for the riders, these encounters are as profound and healing as they are for community.