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Two Paddys cycle length of New Zealand for Youthline

February, 12, 2014

Two Irish men are going to cycle the length of New Zealand starting on (Wednesday) February 12 to raise awareness about depression.

Peter Montgomery and John Walsh, both 27, will start their mammoth 3,000 km ride at Cape Reinga and end in Bluff.

They set the challenge, now known as the Moments of Clarity Cycle, to raise awareness and fundraise for Youthline.

The cycle should take about two-and-a-half months.

Peter said one of the things that led him and John to complete the cycle was to increase awareness about the importance of speaking out about depression.

"Let people know how you are getting on and if the world is building up and getting stressful just speak to someone and you will feel a huge weight lift," he said.

He said an Irish sportsman had recently spoken publicly about his struggles with depression helping to spark conversations in Ireland.

Both Peter and John have witnessed the impacts of not talking to someone about how people are feeling. A mutual friend from their hometown suffered with depression and sadly chose to end his life.

"I wanted to do something about it. There is a stigma around talking about your feelings in Ireland and around the world, particularly for men.

Young men don't like to talk about their feelings. Men lock it away when they're stressed and that can lead to terrible dark places."

Peter said he had suffered from depression for about six years but in the beginning had not recognised what he was experiencing was depression.

Moments of Clarity is a depression awareness initiative set up by Peter and John to help encourage men to talk about and fight depression, and to document their cycle across New Zealand in 2014.

Please LIKE this good cause and follow the Moments of Clarity 2014 cycle Facebook page here:https://www.facebook.com/momentsofclaritycycle and promote awareness everywhere. They have set up a Facebook page called Moments of Clarity.

If you would like to donate to the cause go to: http://www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/Momentsofclaritycycle

A big thank you goes out to Avanti Plus in Newmarket who has given the guys a great price on the bikes that they will be using throughout the cycle challenge.

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