The Trail Mates Social Mountain Bike Riding and Reset Initiative

I didn't start coaching mountain biking to teach people how to ride better.

Teaching people mountain biking skills wasn't how I got into coaching.

The reason I became a mountain bike coach was actually to share how riding in the outdoors could help with depression and anxiety. Because once upon a time, I battled with severe depression.

And riding a bike outdoors became an essential tool in my fight against the darkness.

Truth be told, from time to time, I still find myself wrestling with the void that seems to reside within, never quite going away. Getting back on the bike inevitably helps me fight off the oppressive feelings that can hit while dealing with life's day-to-day challenges.

I discovered how riding can help with the negative emotions we carry purely by accident. One random day, someone I knew invited me along for a mountain bike ride – something I hadn't done in over a decade. And while the depression I was battling tried to anchor me in isolation at home, my wife insisted that I join the small riding group and give it a try.

How my first ride felt - but I still loved it.

I can remember that ride like it was yesterday. Out of breath and on the verge of throwing up as we rode uphill, riding with reckless abandon back down (so much so that I launched myself over the handlebars three times) – I couldn’t focus on anything but the ride.

And despite riding with a group of people I barely knew, the conversation and the environment kept me firmly in the present. The depression faded into the background as the trees raced by and I became immersed in the moment.

Since that day, riding has become a permanent part of my life – an essential tool I pull out regularly to help manage my depression and reset from the day-to-day grind. Exploring different places, initially with groups of people I met while riding and later on rides I organised myself, gave me a way to connect with others and stopped me from isolating.

Eventually, my path with depression and riding led me to become a mountain bike coach. It felt like a way I could help others who struggled with mental health challenges experience how riding a bike outdoors could help them too.

But as things do, my original intentions didn’t quite work out as planned. The focus of my coaching ended up centring on helping people with their riding skills, instead of supporting those who struggled with the dark thoughts in their minds. That was one of the main reasons I decided to stop mountain bike coaching – I wasn’t really doing what I’d wanted to do with riding.

Life can be a funny thing, though. In the back of my mind, I still hadn’t quite let go of the idea of showing others who struggle mentally with the everyday grind of life how riding in the outdoors can help.

I've always loved showing people different places to ride.

Shortly after I finished my last official group coaching session, the organisers of the Gold Coast Active and Healthy program approached me to see if I’d be interested in running a social riding program. Their goals, beyond the usual aims of getting the community active and healthy, were to give people an outlet, a way to reset from the grind, and to help them connect with others. In person.

I couldn’t turn them down now, could I?

So here we are – the beginnings of a slightly familiar, but new journey.

The Trail Mates initiative is about helping you get out into the fresh air with others in a fun, low-stress environment. These monthly rides aren’t about going hard and fast, but about enjoying the company of others while exploring different places the Gold Coast has to offer, at a pace that everyone is comfortable with. There may even be a cuppa straight after the ride.

The first ride is on the 20th of December. And yes, I know it’s just before Christmas – but even Christmas can be a bit of a stressful time.

So if you’d like a mini-break from life and you’re willing to dust off the cobwebs from your mountain bike (even the ones that have the sticker “not intended for off road use” on them), come out and join me for an easy ride.

Meeting place for the first ride will be close to this spot. Get there early enough and you might see this.

The first one will start from The Spit on the Gold Coast, down near the Seaway. You can book your spot by going to:https://www.balancemtb.com.au/book-now

Hope to see you there – or at the very least, at a future ride. And if you have any questions, just drop me a note.