BAY island real estate agent Terri Barclay has clocked up more than 160,000 kilometres riding motorcycles, even though she only started five years ago.
In a couple of months she will add a further 24,000 kilometres to her tally as she joins the 10th anniversary Black Dog Ride around Australia to raise awareness about depression and suicide.
Black Dog rides are close to Ms Barclay's heart because she lost her 16-year-old godson Cameron to suicide in November 2014.
She has joined the ride annually since then, carrying a picture of Cameron on her bike.
Ms Barclay said that when she started to ride motorcycles she found that bikers were not big and scary as many people imagined they were.
"They are mostly large hearted people who like to give back to their communities through charities," she said.
The Black Dog Ride was started in 2009 by Steve Andrews who rode a motorbike around Australia in 26 days. Since then it has grown to include one day rides and large state rides.
Ms Barclay joined the Black Dog riders in Western Australia - riding from her home on the Southern Moreton Bay Islands - for the trip which is more than 15,000 kilometres before returning home. All up she will ride more than 24,000 kilometres, crossing the Nullarbor three times.
Ms Barclay said the Black Dog Ride raised money to help community groups assist people coping with mental illnesses and started up conversations, allowing people to talk about the taboo subject.
"I know just how important it can be arriving in towns as a large group of attention-grabbing stinky motorcyclists, setting up the banners and having conversations in the towns can be," she said.
"So many people are influenced by the presence of these bikers to talk about the depression that plagues them or their friends and family and just being able to talk without judgment and with understanding alone makes the trip worthwhile."
Ms Barclay said that having conversations about depression and making people aware that they were not alone was a huge part of the riders' mission.
"So many of us have been touched by this terrible disease but we find it so hard to discuss," she said.
"The Black Dog Ride brings people out in the community to see what is going on with all of the bikes rolling through town and we find that we can have conversations with people who have suffered in silence all of their lives fighting depression and we are the first people that they have ever told."
Ms Barclay said she wanted people to know that they could ask for help if they were suffering from any form of depression and there was no need to bear it alone.
"Please don't be afraid to ask people if they are OK and to listen to them if they are not," she said. "There are people out there who are willing to help."
Ms Barclay is fundraising via blackdogride.giveeasy.org/campaigns/depression-affects-so-many-of-us.
She is sharing her journey on Facebook at facebook.com/terrisoctaneadventures.
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