Dale Wright's doctor told him he could suffer a heart attack by the age of 40 if he didn't change his ways.

He was 25 and a heavy drinker and smoker, but 11 years on the 36-year-old Albion Park man has transformed his life.

Now the Illawarra Shoalhaven Medicare Local Aboriginal outreach worker wants other indigenous Australians to follow his lead.

Mr Wright and fellow Illawarra Koori Men's Support Group members - Wollongong's Shane Venables and Ben Russell and Shellharbour's Layne Brown - are cycling in the third annual Tour Da Country ride to promote better Aboriginal health.

They set off on a 940-kilometre ride from Albury on November 16 and will visit 15 towns in 13 days to talk about healthy lifestyles, finishing on November 28 at Albion Park with a family fun day.

Along the way more than 30 cyclists will join them, including two of Mr Wright's children, Jayden, 11, and Rideika, 16.

Mr Wright started the Tour Da Country in 2012 to try to close the health gap between indigenous and non-indigenous communities.

On average life expectancy is 11½ years lower for Aboriginal males and 9.7 years for Aboriginal females, and 80 per cent of this is due to preventable conditions.

"I was living in Walgett and I was drinking and smoking and my health was pretty crap, so something had to change," Mr Wright said.

"Mum put me on the bus to Batemans Bay to live with my dad and nan. They straightened me up and I met my now-wife, Renee, and I've got five beautiful children."

Mr Wright quit drinking and smoking, took up cycling, completed a literacy and numeracy course, moved to the Illawarra and got a job as a health worker at the Aboriginal Medical Service.

Donations, information: 0435 198 630 or Tour Da Country on Facebook