Sharing a message of hope

Cycling helped him get through some of his darkest days, so Tommy Hyland decided to give something back and cycle New Zealand’s coastline to raise awareness for mental health.

Hyland, 20, biked out of his Blenheim garage on September 16 on his ‘‘harebrained scheme’’, with a plan to complete the trip without on-road support.

On Christmas Eve, he rode the final leg of his tour – from Spring Creek to Blenheim – arriving home shortly after 11.30am.

In spite of ‘‘a few hiccups’’, he finished the hundredth day in good time and Hyland said it was ‘‘surreal’’ to be home.

‘‘The whole idea was to do a 100-day bike tour, circumnavigating the country. A full loop around the coastline of the country to raise awareness for mental health, particularly anxiety and depression, and learn more about people’s stories.’’

He only told everyone two weeks before setting off of his plans but the idea was born many years earlier, during one of Hyland’s darkest periods.

‘‘Biking was actually something that really helped me when I was starting to get better,’’ he said. ‘‘It really helped me in freeing my mind up. It would alleviate that pressure for even a small amount of time, which opened the window for me to start getting better.

‘‘So I definitely have a big love for my bike and bike riding now.’’

It was through his struggle with mental health that Hyland also realised he could have a role in helping other people out of their dark times.

He found that while there was a lot of crisis-level help for people in the grips of depression, there was less support for those coming out the other side. ‘‘Through the process of getting better, I realised there was not a lot of hoperelated help out there.’’

Part of Hyland’s trip was to connect with people he met along the way, and deliver his message of hope. On more than 73 days of the 100-day journey, he was hosted by someone – sometimes friends but often strangers.

More than half had their own story of battles with mental health, or had friends or family members who had also struggled.

One of Hyland’s fondest memories of the trip is sharing lunch on the side of the road with a 90-year-old woman who was roadtripping around New Zealand.

They sat and chatted about life over peanut butter sandwiches.

He said on occasion, he was concerned about his ‘‘nonexistent’’ training when he was on the ride, and there were some situations when he thought he might have to pull the pin on the trip. But much like in mental health struggles, Hyland found he could always ask for help.

‘‘I realised that even if things went wrong, if I asked for help there were always people willing to help. There was always someone driving past that I could stick my thumb out to and they would chuck my gear on the back of their trailer and take me to the nearest town.’’

Parents Jeremy and Kirsty Hyland said it had been fun learning about their son’s adventures on his blog but they were thrilled to have him home.

They were able to keep in touch with him for most of the trip so they knew where he was ‘‘if something went pear-shaped’’.

Friend Morgan Gurr said she had also been keeping tabs on Hyland’s journey online.

‘‘It is pretty motivating. Only Tom could come up with something like this and actually follow it through from start to finish.’’

Friends Eli Kepes and Josh Thomas joined Hyland for the last leg of his journey from Spring Creek. They had been a little surprised at first when Hyland told them his plan but they were proud he had followed through.

‘‘It is a pretty hard thing to do but if it was going to be anyone, it was going to be Tom to do it.’’