Mental health cyclists pedal for hope

OUT OF THE BLUE: Claire Rabaa and Sally Smith, who are cycling the length of the country with their Ride Out of the Blue team, meet with Senior Sergeant Mike Sutton at the Masterton police station. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

Masterton welcomed a group of cyclists with a difference yesterday.

The Ride Out of the Blue team, who are cycling the length of the country to raise awareness for mental health, arrived in town at about midday, following a scenic trip over the hill from Wellington.

The group of 10 riders were welcomed by Senior Sergeant Mike Sutton and enjoyed lunch at the Masterton police station.

A spokeswoman for the group, Sally Smith, said the trip over the hill was a beautiful ride, with great roads.

"It was absolutely stunning, it just blew me away - it was just amazing."

Ride Out of the Blue has been raising money for the Mental Health Foundation since the idea took hold in 2011.

This year the cyclists hope to raise $50,000 for the foundation's mindfulness programme, which aims to encourage positive mental health practices amongst primary school children.

Several people in the team were motivated to join after losing family members to suicide, Mrs Smith said.

After the son of a close friend killed himself at the age of 16, she wanted to do something, she said. "Our aim is to raise awareness of suicide and depression - it's been under the radar for too long."

"People are frightened to talk about suicide."

Cycling the length of the country was a good way to show their support.

"We have to do something really gruelling because battling depression is really gruelling too, so we have to do something hard ... but we are actually having a ball."

The logistics of the trip, which involves four support crew and two vans, were huge but they were receiving plenty of help in the form of free accommodation and food, Mrs Smith said.

While in Masterton the team stayed with her cousins, Pat and Neville Jaine.

The next leg of their trip takes them to Dannevirke, and they will stay at the Makirikiri marae tonight.

The group set off from Bluff on October 11 and plan to reach Cape Reinga on November 1, covering an average of about 110km per day and they will clock up a 2300km by the time they arrive in Cape Reinga.