Cycling Through Namibia: Rob MacLennan - One Day Of Your Trip

Find out what it's like to cycle through the hot expansive desert in Namibia with guest Rob MacLennan who shares what it was like during one day of his trip.  This adventure was just one day from a journey that would take Rob from London to Capetown via West Africa.  Keep your eyes peeled in the weeks to come for a full length feature episode with Rob and in the meantime be sure to give him a follow on instagram - @robbo_on_the_road

Remember to follow us on instagram - @SeekTravelRide - and keep an eye out for our 100th episode competition launching in the next few days! Good Luck! 

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Okay, listeners, we have another midweek episode here, which of course shares what it was like on one day of your trip. I can tell you this day is really incredible, and it's going to take us to Namibia, courtesy of Rob McClennan. But before we get into Rob's story, I have a super announcement to make. On the 30th of November 2024, I at Sleep Travel Ride will be releasing episode number 100. It's a pretty big deal for me to reflect back on all those hundred stories from those amazing guests. And I'm also thrilled to say that our show sponsor, Old Man Mountain, are contributing a huge prize for one lucky listener to win. This prize consists of two racks, two sets of panniers, a trunk bag, and an old man mountain fit kit to make sure that you can attach all of this awesome equipment to your bike, regardless of whether you're going to be off-road bikepacking or long distance cycle touring across many continents. This competition is going to be launched on our Instagram account, so make sure that you follow Seek Travel Ride there. Our handle is pretty easy to find. It's simply at Seek Travel Ride. So follow us there, keep an eye on the competition launch post and enter away. Good luck. Now, into today's episode. As I mentioned, we're going deep into Namibia. Think of desert landscapes, dirt, gravel roads, oppressive heat and headwind. Let's listen to Rob McClennan share one day of his trip.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Hi, I'm Rob McClennan, and this year I spent 199 days cycling 17,000 kilometres from London to Cape Town. And I'm just, yeah, so thrilled to be talking about one of my most memorable and crazy days of the experience, right towards the end in the desert in Namibia. And I've been in the desert for almost a week now. It's sort of the the toughest physical experience that I've gone through on the whole trip. Just 40-50 degrees every single day. Gravel corrugated roads, almost no shade. And I'm just staying at this one campsite I've got to, looking forward to getting back on the road the next day. And sleeping on top of my tent, sleeping under the stars. And I wake up hearing a bottle smash in the middle of the night. And I just think, what on earth is going on? And I sit up and I see what is must be like a desert fox disappearing into the distance with my backpack in its jaws. And I just think, oh my goodness, that's got my passport, that's got my wallet, that's got my bike keys. And so I find myself sprinting after this desert fox in my underwear in the middle of the night in the desert in Namibia, just thinking, how on earth have I got myself into this situation? But I I find the bag and all the contents are drawn everywhere, and I see the sun cream bottle has been bitten into. I like to think that the fox got into the bag, and the first thing it bit into was the sun cream rather than the fruit and nuts, and just thought, you know what, I'm not having this, and just ran off and discarded it. So yeah, thankfully managed to retrieve my valuable belongings, and uh yeah, got up the next day on like very little sleep and back on the road going into the desert. And this is like one of the most remote sections of the desert where very few people travel, and I remember just getting two hours in and just being in this vast expanse of just rocky mountain and looking over, and there's like a zebra looking back at me, and I'm just like, what are you doing here? Like, like you're not meant to be here. This is like the driest desert in the world. Like, how are you doing this? And the whole time I'm just thinking, I cannot afford to have a mechanical because I'm screwed otherwise. And lo and behold, 30k in, I just hear a spoke go, that horrible sound, and I just think, oh no, this could be really bad. And I've got a 60 kilogram loaded bike with all my additional water and food, and this back wheel is taking a real pounding from these corrugated gravel roads, and I'm just thinking, like, this is really bad. Anyway, I managed to find this warden's house in this reserve in the desert and find some tools to fix my spoke, and I just think I could stop here, or I kinda want to keep going. It's 4 pm, I'm like, I've only got 50k left. This is doable. Anyway, I find myself going up this this hill, strong headwind. These are like the hardest roads I've cycled on this sandy, corrugated gravel and barely making 10 kilometres an hour and just having to dig so so deep. And this is one of the toughest stretches going uphill in this desert, and I finally get to the coal, and I'm just like freewheeling down thinking this is just epic, and the sun's starting to set, and I look over in one direction and I see the sun going down behind these jagged mountains. This sky is just lit up in the most incredible patchwork of colours, and I look over the other side, and another mountain range is being lit up in this golden light, and I look straight ahead, and there are more mountains where there's this sort of cloud around the mountain with sort of rainbows coming out that are being lit up against the backdrop of the sun set, and I'm just like, there is no other human around experiencing this right now. This is just the most incredible moment, and after this crazy day, I was just thinking, like, wow, this is nuts. I was just whooping with elation, just spouting so much crap, just knowing there was no one else listening to me, and I was like, I'm just gonna let it out. This is awesome, this is just what it feels to be alive. Anyway, as soon as the sun went down, my mood dropped accordingly, and I realised that I had about 20k still to go to try and get to the place I was trying to stay. I'd run out of water, and so I had to get to this guest farm that was on the map. And I just had this like terrible, terrible head torch that I'd picked up in Cameroon that I'm trying to like see two metres ahead to light up the road, and I'm sort of like negotiating the sand, like I keep I fall off the bike a couple of times going into this headwind, like it really sucks. And I'm getting near to where this farm is meant to be, and I just can't see any lights anywhere, and I'm just thinking, like, if there's no one home, this is not a good situation. Thankfully, I'm around the corner and I see this light, and I'm like, Yeah, let's go cycle up to this farm. It's getting pretty late at this point. I've been cycling through the dark for a couple of hours, and um just pull up to this farmhouse, and there's just this lovely couple, and they're just like, Oh, come in, and they're like offer me like just eggs and bread and beer, and it's just the most incredible meal I've had for days, just after this crazy, crazy sort of 12 hours in the saddle, and yeah, just looking back on that and just how nervous I was at the start of the trip. I was just like, I've gone through so much and built up so much resilience to get to a point where this is just what my life looks like, and I can just get on with it and do it again tomorrow. Yeah, just so many awesome experiences.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Thank you so much, Rob, for sharing one day of your trip and what an incredible day that was from the wheat hours of the night before, having to chase the fox off to get your passport and all your prized possessions. I must admit, I really chuckled myself when I heard that. But then also, oh my goodness, I am personally one of those people that gets super energized when the clouds light up and there's amazing sky magic, whether it's sunrise or sunset. And I cannot imagine what it was like for you in this moment. Having endured those gravelly, corrugated washboard sandy roads in Namibia, all that climbing, and then you just freewheel into this landscape of dazzling colours, amazing vistas with mountains in the distance. This is exactly what these adventures are all about. It's these moments, and I'm so glad that you were able to share it for us. Listeners, keep an eye out in the coming weeks. I will be sharing Rob's story by way of a long form episode so you get to get all the details of this amazing adventure. Now, as always, I want to say a big heartfelt thank you to our Seek Travel Vride super fans. You know who you are. You are those awesome people who have been taking the time out to support the show and buy me a virtual coffee. To start off, I have a huge thank you to say to Sally De LaPur. Sally, I hope I haven't just butchered your last name. But Sally says, I absolutely love listening to you and your guests. I'm so inspired by the stories on the show. I love riding my bike in the Yorkshire Dales in the UK and am dreaming of going further. Thank you so much. Sally, I am so thrilled that you are tuning in and drawing inspiration from our guest stories. It's exactly what this show is about. Sharing these adventure stories and inspiring others to take their own adventures on. I cannot wait to see where your next bike adventure takes you, so keep in touch with me and let me know. Thanks so much for supporting the show. And lastly, I have Jenny Bradshaw. Jenny says, thanks for creating this wonderful inspirational podcast, Bella. Whenever I listen, it makes me want to quit my job and cycle across the world. Oh Jenny, I am right there with you. Thanks so much for showing some love to the show. Can I just say, with each and every guest interview that I conduct, it takes all of my effort not to just go, ugh, okay, that's that, pack my bike up with some panniers and just head off on my own long distance adventure as well. So I totally understand what you mean by that. I hope you can keep tuning into the episodes and hopefully have some time away from yourself to take your own adventure. It doesn't need to be around the world, it can be a weekend or a week long. All these trips are energizing, I'm sure you will agree. Thanks again for supporting the show. Now, listeners, if you would like to do as Sally and Jenny have done and support the show, I have included the Buy Me a Coffee link in our show notes. You can click the link and buy me a virtual coffee. I am ever thankful for those who do, and I love especially reading the messages when you donate as well. Lastly, don't forget to make sure to follow us on our Instagram channel at SeekTravel Ride and keep an eye out for our competition launch post in the next coming days to celebrate our hundredth episode. Until the next episode, I'm Bella Malloy. Thanks for listening.