If you had to guess, how many Australians would you say die from suicide every day? A handful, maybe three or four? Try nine. On average, seven Australian men and two women pass away every single day through suicide. That’s 63 each week, or 252 each month. In 2022 alone, 3,249 Australians died by suicide. In New Zealand during the same year, 538 people died—a comparatively smaller number, but in a country one-fifth of the population of Australia.
It can feel overwhelming to consider the collective misery that contributes to the mental health struggles of individuals—to the point that so many would consider taking their own life as their best viable option—but there are many committed to being the change.
One such person is Gus Worland. He’s a TV and radio host who had a wake-up call when one of his closest friends took his own life. Worland began a journey to understand why suicide rates in men were so high in Australia—eventually leading him to found Gotcha4Life, a foundation that creates and delivers programs to help everyday Australians build emotional resilience, have better conversations around mental health and empower people to be there for each other.
Gotcha4Life is a grassroots foundation and in September, is partnering with another unlikely grassroots initiative—four women riding a single bicycle the 4000km stretch between Perth, WA to Sydney, NSW.
Yes, you read those words correctly. If you’re reading this in October 2025, there’s a good chance that at this moment, the Ride4Life team is currently riding their quad tandem bike somewhere on the long stretch of road between Perth and Sydney. I had a chance to speak with the team before they embarked. Here’s how the conversation went.
Cycling for a cause
It all began with team captain Louise. Teacher, mother of four and keen bike rider, she’s ridden tandem 1000km with one of her sons, and 2000km with another. Every year, she and 30 others ride from Canberra to Mount Kosciuszko (a comparatively paltry 220km).
A few years ago, she had a crazy idea: double her previous achievement of 2000km. Friend and fellow rider Sonia suggested they do the unthinkable: ride from Perth to Sydney. Soon after, sisters Anna and Rachel asked to join, so a single tandem bike became two. As Louise’s previous rides have raised money for charity, the only question that remained was, what would the team ride for?
“I’ve had family members and close friends that have suffered a lot with depression and suicide,” says Louise. And so, the team began searching for a charity to partner with. Eventually Sonia came across Gotcha4Life. “They just jumped out at me. We loved their vision and mission. They’re a smaller charity—they’re grassroots, like us.”
After some conversations, the team convinced Gotcha4Life to partner with them. The next step was to decide what monetary figure to aim for for their fundraising goal. The amount they settled on is ambitious. “We’re hoping to raise half a million (dollars)”, says Anna. “We’ve already raised more than $A55,000 and we haven’t even ridden yet.”
When two became four
The idea of riding two tandem bikes quickly changed when Louise was scrolling social media one day and discovered the quad tandem bike. “Everything’s four,” she says. “Gotcha4Life, Ride4Life, four women, 4000km. A bike with four seats—that’s just gold. I got quite excited.” But getting the bike was a hurdle in and of itself. You can’t buy a quad tandem bike anywhere in Australia, so the team had to look further afield. To have a custom bike built in the United States would have cost A$35,000, which was way out of their budget. “That’s when Rachel connected with these guys from Wirth Hats in Canada”, says Louise. “They had the same mission as us. They ride quad tandem bikes for mental health and suicide prevention. Long story short, they were happy to sell us one of their quads.” A few months later, the quad tandem bike made the journey from North America to Australia, and the real training could begin.
“I’m the captain, so my position is number one”, says Louise. “I steer and have the front brakes. Sonia is the ‘Navman’, which means she gives us instructions and keeps us going in the right direction. Anna, who is position number three, has the back brakes and Rachel, as number four, operates the gears.”
“I feel like it’s quite an unknown,” says Rachel. “It’s cool because it is a first—it’s never been done before. I love adventures like that: never knowing what’s over the horizon, problem-solving on the go. But the physicality behind it, the mental toughness, pushing ourselves to the limits. Anna and I have done extreme stuff [growing up]. We go hard and we don’t give up. But I feel like this could be the breaking point. I honestly feel like trying to find the edge of where [your limits are]. I think that’s so fun”.
At this point, the whole team was laughing—but I could tell there was a serious edge to Rachel’s jokes. While achievements for tandem bike rides have been recorded around the world, this is the first time a quad tandem bike team is attempting anything so ambitious—and to do it across Australia, in some of the remotest and most challenging conditions—is beyond audacious, even for such an accomplished team of riders. The ride will be physically demanding but perhaps even more difficult will be the mental load. Like a ship, each team member’s contribution is vital—take away any one element, and the bike becomes useless.
The master plan
The trip will take around 40 days. “We start September 1 in Perth and will end October 10 in Sydney,” says Anna. “We’ve got a big spreadsheet with all the towns we’re going to visit. Our biggest day will be 190km in between towns. That just blows my mind. So, looking at the schools, there’s literally a week where we can’t go to any schools because there’s no schools out there”. Anna is referring to the fact that the Ride4Life team won’t just be riding—they’ll be stopping at multiple points to work with Gotcha4Life in their school programs.
The charity’s bread and butter is their school program, so it makes sense for the team to visit multiple schools along the way to spread Gotcha4Life’s message of “a suicide-free world where no-one worries alone”. Other organisations have also caught the vision, such as a number of Lions Clubs throughout the country. “We even met this guy who has a bike club out of Wagga Wagga. We’re going through that town, and he said, ‘I’ll get the bike crew together and we’ll ride you out of town’.”
One thing’s for sure: Ride4Life is going to be a tremendous event to follow, even if you (like me) have no interest in cycling normally. No matter who you are, I guarantee you’ve been affected, whether directly or indirectly, by depression and suicide. At the end of our conversation, Anna was eager to remind us, “Think of that person you haven’t spoken to in a while and check in—meaningfully. That’s the core of what we want for people—to catch them before that moment of desperation or feeling so low that their life isn’t worth living.” Louise added, “Our motto is, ‘every life counts’. While we’re on this journey, we want to say, ‘connection over kilometres’. We want to make those connections with the people along the way, not just focus on getting to the end”.
