The 45-year-old former world solo 24 hours mountain bike champion, from Melbourne, has set out on a trip around the country to raise awareness on asylum-seeker and refugee issues. 

With his Staffy cross border collie Chloe by his side, Mr Bailey endeavours to ride about 20,000km around the “perimeter” of Australia.

“The main motivation is to do something a tad extreme to engage the broader community,” he said. 

Mr Bailey decided to undertake the trip after closing his recycled furniture business in Collingwood and doing something he felt passionate about. 

“I’ve set up the not-for-profit organisation New Life Cycle first and foremost to raise awareness to the inhumane conditions and the government’s mistreatment of people in the detention centres,” he said.

“Even if I can change 100 people’s attitudes on the issues while I’m on my way around the country, then we’ve had a win.”

Mr Bailey said he has seen the effects of mental illness in his personal life and attributed his strong feelings for the cause to his mother.

“I put a lot of the blame onto my mum too,” he said. “She is one of the most caring people on the planet.

“I drew the line in the sand once I heard that the government spent $10 million on border control uniforms rather than helping these people who are locked up, I had to do something.”

Mr Bailey encouraged people to watch the 2016 documentary Chasing Asylum by Eva Orner, which tells the story of social workers’ first-hand accounts at Nauru detention centres.

“We know it’s bad but once you see it, you can really feel how bad it is,” he said. 

“If everyone saw Chasing Asylum, I wouldn’t need to ride my bike around Australia essentially.”

Mr Bailey, who was in Yackandandah on day eight of the journey, said he planned to use as many mountain bike tracks as possible. 

“It's early days but the feedback has been really good and everyone has been really engaged,” he said. 

“We like to encourage people to get involved with us and go on a ride to show us some local trails and then engage with the communities that way.”

Mr Bailey said he couldn't do the trip without his beloved dog, Chloe. 

“Chloe is loving it. She won't run the whole way with me, I wouldn't ask her to do that,” he said. 

“She will run for a bit and then sleep in the van.”