Role out of the blue

A bubblegum pink bike, yellow decals pasted on its frame, leans against a wall in Renee Lyons' Kingsland home.

"I can't get up the hills on this thing," says the actor of her 80s Speedster bike. From her room she wheels out a more modern black cycle.

Known for her roles in Supercity and other plays, Lyons is about to roll out something different.

Come October she will be one of 10 cyclists who will pedal the length of the country on a bike donated for her to use to promote a mental health awareness campaign, Ride Out of the Blue.

"We're raising money for the Mental Health Foundation to raise awareness of suicide and depression," says Lyons, who's gamely turned out in Lycra cycle kit on a wet winter morning for our photograph.

"Specifically, it's to fund a programme, Mindfulness in Schools, about building a resilience and awareness of emotions in young people. I thought it sounded really fun and exciting - and I suppose I've always been passionate about mental health awareness," says Lyons, whose friend and fellow actor, Aidee Walker, talked her into taking part.

All going to plan, the group will cover 2250km over three weeks. Her efforts will become an internet series, Rennie Rides Roads, capturing the comic side of an amateur in training.

"Training?" says Lyons with a sigh. "Hypothetically, I should be going about four times a week. I'd say we're doing over 200km a week."

But to pushbike from Bluff to Cape Reinga, "training's going to have to be ramped up".

Specforce Fitness has offered to train the team for free. "They've designed a programme of strength and cardio so it's not just all cycling. There's a technique to cycling I didn't even know about. We've been training on cycle paths out west and around St Heliers."

It's not a solo effort: "People in each town can join in," Lyons says.

While building her pedal power, she will debut in a double bill called The Triumphants, comprising two solo shows, performed alongside Walker. Nick, Lyons' first full-length written work is based on the life of Nick Chisholm, a Dunedin man injured playing rugby in 2000 aged 27. He developed locked-in syndrome, in which the person is aware and awake but cannot move or communicate verbally due to paralysis of most voluntary muscles in the body, except for the eyes.

"I stumbled across it on the internet and realised I knew his brother from uni days. He could hear the doctors talking to his mum about turning off the life support machine and could understand everything. They thought he was in a coma and just about dead.

"Nick went from being told he'd never recover to making an incredible recovery."

There's a love story in there as well - he fell in love with a woman [from England] over the internet. "He designed a joystick so he could use the computer. He goes to the gym and pushes 200kg weights."

Lyons, who received Creative NZ funds to stage the production, visited Chisholm and his girlfriend, Nicola, as part of her research.

"His brother said to me, 'Don't worry, you won't come away feeling depressed.'

"And I didn't - I came away feeling so pumped about life. His mental strength and his determination, he's just done amazing things.

"He's someone we've got a lot to learn from. I hope the audience will feel inspired."

SEE RENEE ON STAGE

WHAT The Triumphants: Featuring Nick (Renee Lyons) and And Then You Die (Aidee Walker)

WHEN August 9-Aug 18, 8pm; Sun, Aug 12, 6pm; Mon, Aug 13, 7pm

WHERE Q Loft, 305 Queen St

HOW MUCH $25-$30. Tickets from Q Box Office. Ph 309 9771 or www.qtheatre.co.nz

Renee Lyons will also star in The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later, the sequel to a play based on an apparent hate crime - the murder of Matthew Shephard in Wyoming. It's a series of verbatim interviews with priests, mothers, criminals and the public.

WHAT The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later

WHEN Aug 28-Sept 8, 8pm

WHERE Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, CBD

HOW MUCH Adult $20; senior, student, child $16. Bookings: www.iticket.co.nz

What do you think? Have your say in the comment box below. Or head to our Facebook page