When Air Commodore Ross Bender was undergoing treatment for cancer during COVID, cycling formed part of his therapy.

“I used to ride pretty much every day on the trainer to get me ready for the treatments and surgeries,” Air Commodore Bender said.

After he recovered, he tackled long-distance rides to fundraise for cancer research.

His latest charity ride is Ride4Rehab 2025, run by the Sports Confederation of Denmark (DIF). It gives a group of mostly Danish veterans with injuries a unique physical experience while promoting DIF’s Soldier Project.

Invictus Games Federation sponsored the nine international participants, including Air Commodore Bender.

He and 58 other veterans cycled from one end of Denmark to the other, covering more than 1000km in nine days. 

They were accompanied by guest riders including the Danish Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence General Michael Hyldgaard, and Commander of Army Command Major General Peter Boysen.

“The Chief of Army rode for three days,” Air Commodore Bender said. 

“He and I rode together and chatted on the bike side-by-side for about three hours.”

'They were helping each other out as they worked through their mental health challenges.'

Other guest riders included Danish TV stars, Olympic gold medallists and regional mayors.

“These people didn’t just turn up. They were committed to the training and then turned up and rode 140km a day,” Air Commodore Bender said.

The Ride4Rehab route was dictated by the locations of Danish naval, army and air force bases, which the group stayed at most nights.

“Every time we arrived at a location, the local mayor would normally be there to welcome the group,” Air Commodore Bender said. 

“We also had a couple of marching bands turn up for displays for us.”

The Danish cohort included soldiers who had lost mates while deployed to Afghanistan.

“One of the riders was in the vehicle behind his mate, whose vehicle was blown up. Others were their bosses,” Air Commodore Bender said. 

“Most of them were suffering from [post-traumatic stress disorder] PTSD, as you can imagine.”

He added that the Danes openly discussed their experiences and struggles with mental health – something he didn’t see as much of in Australia.

“While we were riding, one of the guys said, ‘We better stop soon. I need to take my drugs – otherwise I’ll go crazy’,” Air Commodore Bender said.

“They were helping each other out as they worked through their mental health challenges.”

'These people didn’t just turn up. They were committed to the training and then turned up and rode 140km a day.'

This year’s Ride4Rehab started on August 28 and ended in Copenhagen on September 5, on Danish National Flag Day – their equivalent of Anzac Day.

The group attended a ceremony to honour deployed personnel and the fallen, along with the King and Queen of Denmark.

In the evening, the cyclists were hosted by the Royal Copenhagen Shooting Society and Danish Brotherhood for a celebration dinner.

“The society is basically a who’s who of people in Denmark,” Air Commodore Bender said.

“The King’s part of it. CEOs of major companies, chiefs of defence. All of those execs were the waiters for the night.

“I didn’t know who they all were, but the riders were like, ‘Here’s our previous Chief of Defence. He’s now cleaning my plate’.

“It was a genuine thing where they wanted to show their support for the veterans. I felt very privileged.”

Air Commodore Bender was one of two Australian participants. The others hailed from Canada, the United Kingdom, Lithuania and Ukraine.

The Ukrainian returned home from the event to a missile strike.

“After he had flown back to Kyiv, he sent us a video of missiles coming in and alarms going off,” Air Commodore Bender said.

“That was the life he was going back to – returning home to fight the war.”