CYCLING

By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

 

TREKKING 200km across a single day to raise money for mental health, Jordie Humphrey’s bike ride down the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne to Apollo Bay was done for those we’ve lost tragically along the way.

Partnering with Mindfull Aus, the former Newborough local raised north of $4000 for the mental health organisation and the Tyson Bale Memorial Fund.

Humphrey had many ideas rattling around in his head, including an ironman event to fundraise, but discovered cycling after suffering a setback when training for another venture at the heralded Stawell Gift.

During training and at work, Humphrey suffered a severe back injury that kept him off the running track for close to six months, and in recovering, his partner’s uncle recommended bike riding to build his aerobic capacity.

“I felt fine enough and started running again… I said to myself (that) I really want to do a triathlon, so I started training for a triathlon and got a little bit from family,” Humphrey told the Express.

“So, I just started getting on the bike and started to really realise that I was actually really, really enjoying this… and I probably only started to enjoy it more than my running only because I was doing the running and then two days later I was just in bed because I couldn’t move.”

Humphrey then committed himself to the cause, training for six months in the lead up to his venture.

“I was up at (6am) every morning, just doing as many kilometres as I could in the morning,” he said.

“I really did work quite hard in terms of getting my body right… a lot of strength work on the bike was the sort of training I did and just getting the general ks in.”

Arriving on the day after a few date changes, Humphrey started things off from Science Works in Spotswood at 6am, beginning his close to half-day journey.

“When it came around to the ride I was like ‘I really want to get this done’, I don’t want to sit there and keep pondering it,” he said.

“I got crook on the original week, I was like ‘I really need to just get the closest date I can find (and) just get it done’.”

Humphrey admitted he didn’t find the day mentally taxing, at least not until the backend.

“To be quite honest, I didn’t really have like a mental battle until probably about the last 30km were a real punish, only because I was thinking about time,” he said.

“I had mentally prepared everything, like I knew the hills were going to be there, I had a good gauge on elevations, so I knew how far I was going to be climbing.”

Humphrey was supported throughout the day by his partner and his mum, while his dad and uncle showed out during his ride, and Mindfull Aus Chief Executive, Matt Runnalls followed Humphrey all the way through to Geelong.

While recently, Humphrey realised how he’d set out to achieve his goal, the idea to do it for mental health was sparked years in advance.

“I’ve lived with my mental health challenges for nearly a decade, whether I recognised it or not, it wasn’t until I was 17 that things really took a turn, with personal issues, anxiety, and depression,” he said.

“I want to show people in my community that it’s okay to express feelings about anxiety and depression.”

His brother Bailey, current Gold Coast Suns player and Mindfull Aus ambassador, alongside North Melbourne player Jacob Konstanty were hosting a golf fundraiser in 2022 while still attending Lowanna College back in 2022. That time inspired Jordie greatly.

“After my brother became an ambassador for Mindull Aus, I saw first-hand the tremendous work they do, and I knew I wanted to be a part of it,” he said.

Both brothers lost a dear friend of theirs to suicide, which affected an entire community, and now each have made grounds to raise awareness for a necessary cause.