I started my R4R journey 5 months post a back operation, after 1.5 years of managing an injury. I had done a lot of physio and was moving towards increasing my fitness and strength to ultimately be able to run in my personal life, and be operational at work again. I also wanted to improve my mental health after a long-term injury which had taken its toll. I had been riding my mountain bike but hadn’t managed to get on the road bike at that stage due to the more extreme bend in the low back on a road bike.

For the first 5 or so spin classes, I wasn’t able to physically sit on the bike for the full class without backpain and would get off to stretch part way through. I slowly built up the amount of time that I could sit on the bike without getting off before I eventually could complete a full class.

I went for a spin class on a Monday morning, chatted to Dad before work about how many kms I was able to do during the class and then left for work. That day, my Dad went cycling and sadly, had a serious heart attack on his bike. He was admitted to ICU, 10 days later he passed away.

About a week after Dad passed, I got myself back to the gym for a 5:30 spin class before work. It was emotional but nothing terrible happened, and it was a good way to feel close to my Dad. Each time I returned to spin it got a little easier emotionally to walk through the doors at the gym. I made it my mission at that point to get fit, and strong enough to ride 40km on a road bike for a memorial ride that my dad’s mates organised. The memorial ride was organised for the weekend after the end of R4R.

I smashed spin classes and could feel myself getting fitter and stronger and losing weight. I started riding my road bike in the real world 20km once a week pain free which was liberating. I did the last spin class on the last Friday for R4R and was ready for the memorial ride on Sunday.

At the end of R4R I completed a 40Km memorial ride for my Dad, alongside his cycling mates, including a few decent hills. My back managed pain free and my fitness was good enough to complete the ride, even though it was a challenge.

Unfortunately, I ended the memorial ride with some drama, I clipped the wheel of the rider ahead of me and came flying off my bike at 40kmph. I had a concussion, lots of road rash and some stretched ligaments in my shoulder. I needed to take 4 weeks off exercise and had my arm in a sling for a fortnight.

Megan Koppelwell – Sergeant, Tasmania Police