So I guess, if we can start at the start – can you explain why you just rode across Australia?!

Yeah, yeah, I can. But it's going to be a bit of a ramble... 

I've been riding my bike for a long time. I grew up racing in various disciplines. I've always loved adventure too. All through school, I was off hiking and doing all those wilderness experiences. So adventure isn't something new to me, but it's something that definitely paused whilst I was focused on racing. 

When the pandemic hit and there wasn't really any racing, I was just like, I'm gonna go hiking, and I'm gonna go do this, and I'm gonna teach myself how to ski, and I'm gonna go bike packing.

I didn't start off doing massive things. Just, you know, a trip to a little pub, in a little town, and ride back the next day. It started really, really small, and I got a lot of joy.

It wasn't I’ve won this race, or positioned here, or hit these power numbers. It was just like – I rode from A to B on my bike, and it made me feel like I had accomplished something.

I had a really good friend, Maddy, that I grew up racing with. She was diagnosed with leukaemia, and sadly, lost that battle in 2022. Before she passed away, she was pretty honest, and she told me, if you hate your job. leave it. You want to do this thing. Go do it.

I decided I wanted to go over seas, and I got into the lifetime Grand Prix, this big gravel series in America. I had no idea where I was going to stay, or how I was going to make it, but it was just, like, you figure it out. And so I did this massive year of racing again in 2023.

I bought this crappy car, and I was getting to all these races and staying with all these people I'd never met. It was a huge year, but my mental health really slipped. It just kind of got out of out of control. I'd put all this pressure on myself to perform, but also to make the most of it. I was exhausted, every day, and it all built up.

I was mad at myself, because it was like, you wanted to do this, you wanted to be here. Why aren't you enjoying it? Why aren't you doing better?

When I got back to Australia, I became an adventure addict. I was bike packing and I was like, ride to Kosciuszko, run to the top of Kosciuszko, do a marathon, do this, do that. That's where the Oz ride sparked…

I'm doing all these things, and I can just do them. I want a really big challenge. Why don't I just ride across the whole country. 

So in this peak of, everything falling apart, it was this goal, and I worked really hard on my mental health and to start being kinder to myself, and start trying to be more present.

To some people that challenge might sound just as much pressure as the racing? How did it differ from what you were doing in the states?

It was pressure. Sharing the story probably added to that, but ultimately, it was just something I wanted to do. It wasn't for anyone else. Even though Maddie sparked the idea. And it certainly was this notion of grab life and enjoy doing these things while you can. I was doing it for me.

A lot of people were asking me, why are you doing this? Right? It's like, because I can, because I'm here, because I want to, because, you know, why not? 

Even though I'm an athlete and I'm competitive and I like going fast and pushing my body. Ultimately, it didn't matter how long I did it in, how fast I went, what route I went, it was just this entirely made up thing that I wanted to do. 

So I kind of had no pressure other than to just get up each day and ride my bike. 

You did this unsupported - that's so much time alone with your own mind. How was that experience? Did you find it therapeutic?

The solitude was definitely something I'm not unfamiliar with, but this level of solitude, it was a lot. I would have moments, and hours, and times, and days where I would be yelling and crying and just going through it, and then, you'd have these moments of just like absolute joy. 

And to be in such solitude and still feel overwhelming happiness, just based on your surroundings, is so special. And you don't know when those moments are going to come, or what's going to trigger them, that's kind of the beauty of it. 

As you work through it, you know that when you're crying and yelling that there'll be good too. It'll come. You just have to be patient. 

A lot of us, we do live in relative privilege. We have the opportunity and the privilege to choose discomfort and to choose our suffering. And honestly, when I was when I was out there suffering, I would think of Maddy, and think of the people that don't get to choose their suffering and that was a huge driver for me to keep going.

That's a really powerful trip. Do you feel changed or transformed in any way? Do you feel different now than before? 

Yeah, I just feel more sure, not like, sure of myself. But I just feel an immense amount of gratitude for people. I met some lovely people out there, and I met some awful people out there, but it really just opened my mind to be just amazed by everyone's uniqueness.

Ella illuminated her adventure with Knog’s Blinder 1300, Cobber and Plus lights. 

For more follow Ella on her website ellabloor.com and Insta @Ella.Bloor.