Western Plains locals might have spotted a bunch of green postie bikes riding through town last week. 

Around 80 people, including around 30 on bikes plus family and support crew, passed towns including Gilgandra, Coonamble, Armatree and Lightning Ridge between 13 and 22 April as part of Matt's Mito Mission, a charity ride raising funds for the Mitochondrial (mito) Disease Medical Network. 

The cause is named after Matthew John Holroyd who died from a mitochondrial disease, two years ago. Despite first symptoms of the progressive disease at the age of 12, Matt loved riding dirt bikes, the outdoors, and water skiing. 

"Mito is not a well-known disease so we try to raise awareness for it," Matt's Mito Mission member Ian Smith said. The charity organisation raises donations to help fund research for the incurable disease.

"Basically, your mitochondria are your batteries in the cells," network Founding Director Karen Crawley explained. 

"(Mitochondrial Disease) is like being born with cheap, shitty batteries. 

"If there's not enough energy in the cells, the cells often struggle to function properly. 

"It's exactly like your phone. If you throw on your Bluetooth, if you put on your wifi, your phone goes flat quickly. So, if somebody's under a lot of extra stress, if they've had an operation or they've had a cold or a flu or an illness and use up lots of energy to fight it off, then they often crash. 

"They might get renal failure quickly, liver failure quickly. The body will bounce back if it gets some rest, but it can only do it so often. Sooner or later, those organs tend to fail. 

"It's genetic. There's at least about 380 mutations that can cause it." 

A postie biker hits the road again after a fuel station stop in Gilgandra on Saturday 20 April. PHOTO: River McCrossen

Despite being a medical practitioner, Karen said she didn't know about the genetic disease until it was diagnosed in her daughter Kara, who passed when she was 18. Her 23-year-old son Braden also has it. 

"An average GP has probably got about a dozen patients, but they're not picking it up and they don't diagnose because they don't know what to look for." 

"It kills nearly as many kids as cystic fibrosis, it's the second most common serious genetic disorder, but nobody knows about it. It's poorly diagnosed, poorly understood." 

In 2023 Matt's Mito Mission raised just under $45,000 for the cause. 

This year the group on a road trip stretching from Sydney's Londonderry to Hebel, about 45 minutes north from Lightning Ridge on the Queensland side of the border.  

The nine-day journey, which began on 13 April was meant to reach the Queensland town of Thallon, but stopped short due to floodwaters on the Dirranbandi Hebel Road. 

When asked what onlookers' reaction to the group of bikers usually is Smith said, "Everyone gives you a smile, a wave and a thumbs up."