Old Time Auto Repairs owner Ben Hewlett is riding across the United States, raising funds for Black Dog Institute.
“The great thing about it is anyone can get on the Black Dog Institute page and start a fundraiser, collect money or make something specific like a photo competition, or have a Black Dog barbecue or for the middle-aged gentleman such as I, a Black Dog Ride, which are pretty popular,” Ben said.
Leaving this coming Saturday for Los Angeles, Ben and his mate Redmond will ride across the country to end up at the Daytona Beach Bike Rally.
“We grab a bike from Eagle Rider, a brand-new Harley Davidson Road Glide, and then take off zigzagging across the United States, travelling about 600km per day through Arizona, Texas, Friday night in New Orleans and then down to Atlanta, back to Mexico for Panama beach and then across to Daytona Beach in time for the Daytona Beach Bike Rally.
“The Daytona Beach Bike Rally has about half a million motorcycles descend on a town the size of Bendigo.
“It is the second biggest bike rally in the world, which is why we wanted to go now.
“Rather than being a self-indulgent, middle-aged wanker on a motorbike, we are fundraising for the Black Dog Institute to help those people having a tough time.”
You can follow Ben’s trip across the United States on Ben’s YouTube channel, Red Dirt Pirate.
“Along the way, we will be having real fun, taking the piss out of the Yanks and all that sort of stuff, but every couple of days, we will make a YouTube video where we talk about the times in your life that you can feel a bit overwhelmed and you don’t know where to turn,” Ben said.
“You might be having dark thoughts in that quiet place by yourself at night-time, you might not be coping with grief from losing a loved one, or you have been fired from your job, or you have split up with your significant other, and you find yourself struggling, and just talk about that.
“I will be talking about my experience and making it real, then say, look, at the time, I found it really helpful to open up to close friends.
“And once I found I could do that a little bit, eventually found a counsellor or psychologist or whatever at that time I felt helped me on my path to obtain good mental health again.
“And just like Shakespeare, even in his tragic plays, at the start of the second act, we will have a few minutes of comedy to break it up, so it isn’t too serious.”
Ben feels that the ladies are better at discussing their mental health with each other.
“Guys tend to clam up a bit and we swallow our emotions like we swallow our pride,” he said.
“I’m encouraging the blokes to try and take a leaf out of the ladies’ book and be a little more open about, ‘Hey, I’m actually not doing great right now. Do you have time for a chat? What do I do? I feel a bit hopeless,’ and give people a little bit of hope and show them the avenues for tools to help them on their own mental health journey.”
Ben urges people to donate to the Black Dog Institute as they wander through his mental health journey as he rides across the United States.
If you would like to help Ben raise funds to support the Black Dog Institute, go to https://www.teamblackdog.org.au/fundraisers/bennyscoastrun/benny---redmond---black-dog-usa-road-trip
If you would like to follow along with Ben’s ride, go to https://www.youtube.com/@reddirtpirate618