She was riding in the rain to her sister's house after completing a five-day bike mechanics course when she hit slippery train tracks at the Reservoir level crossing and came off her bike.

"I now have a metal leg with a lot of plates and rods and screws in it," Ms Short said. "I was supposed to have an interview the next day for a job in Cessnock but was in hospital for two weeks.

"After a month I was lifted onto a stationary bike and did two revolutions and built up each day. It took me a full year to get back to totally normal. I did not think I'd get back on a [road] bike yet be allowed to do long distances again. I also had to get over the psychological hurdle."

Three years after the crash and Ms Short got the job in Cessnock - as a lawyer for the CFMEU - and will leave Sydney on April 29 to participate in the first Salvos Red Shield Ride, which involves cycling 1400 kilometres to Melbourne in 10 days. Ms Short said she owes "much of where I am today" to the charity. "I'm really excited and I can't wait. Back in the 19th century there was a group of riders who cycled from Western Australia to Sydney called the Overlanders and it's something that's always been on my bucket list. This is tackling half of that and in the future I plan to ride the rest."

Ms Short originally aimed to raise $5000, but is "overwhelmed" to have collected more than $11,300. "I'm always looking for long distance rides but this one connected with me directly. It's about my passion for cycling combined with my desire to return the favour to the Salvation Army for helping us out. It's time to give back.

"By raising that much money I'm hoping to repay tenfold to what they gave us."

Ms Short's parents separated when she was a young child and she went to live with her mother. "She did not have the money to put food on the table every night," she said. "I remember getting food vouchers to redeem at supermarkets. We used to think it was great and a bit of novelty going shopping, being able to have a selection of what we had instead of being constrained by money.

"The couple next door owned a bakery and would bring home yesterday's bread for us, but the vouchers were the difference between us eating stale bread or fresh bread. Food is your main need and as a child you don't have knowledge of what's happening around you, but you know when food is on the table or not. It meant a lot to us."

Ms Short will ride between 90 and 180 kilometres each of the 10 days on the Red Shield Ride and has been preparing by cycling about 300 kilometres a week for the past three months.

Ms Short is no stranger to long distances - she rode 13,000 kilometres last year and has travelled the past two years to scale Tour de France climbs before the riders come through. "But I haven't ridden 10 days back to back," she said. "One day we ride 180 kilometres through the Kosciuszko ranges and there's 3500m of climbing."

She tapered off training last week to go into the event with "fresh legs". "I love that feeling of freedom when I'm out on the bike - you can go anywhere," she said. "It's also very social and there's a strong sense of community. You do one or two group rides and have 20 new friends."