This is the story of my 17,000km solo journey on two wheels from London to Cape Town, as it happened.
Over the course of 7 months I cycled through France and Spain, along the coast of Morocco and across the Sahara desert. I pedalled through the ruggest mountainous jungles of West Africa, wound through the Congo rainforest, and finally through Angola, Namibia and South Africa.
I shared tea with berber camel traders, slept in mud huts and under the milky way, and had countless remarkable encounters with strangers from completely different walks of life.
Latest Posts
Chapter 2: The Spanish Traverse
Chapter 1: A baguette a day keeps the bonk at bay
“Why?”
One Year On: Why I’m Finally Writing It Down
13th March, 2025 Exactly one year ago I arrived at Cape Point, the end of…
Day 1: London to Newhaven
Fresh faced and cleanly shaven, kitted up in my new lycra and learning on the…
Maybe you’re reading this because you’re a friend or family member, personally interested in what I got up to over those 7 months. Maybe you’re a keen cyclist or adventurer looking for some inspiration. Maybe you’re even currently cycling a similar route down West Africa and looking for specific details of the route and advice on where to go (and where to avoid). Regardless, I’m grateful you’re here and I hope you enjoy!
Over the coming months I will be sharing my journey from London to Cape Town on two wheels. I aim to post roughly once a week – sometimes more, sometimes less. I’ll be tracking the story of the adventure as it happened: some posts will be about a single day that left a big impact on me, while others might cover 2 or more weeks that were relatively uneventful. As well as re-telling the chronological narrative of the journey, there may be some posts that explore my thoughts from the road from across the adventure, be it football, omelette culture, or my Top 10 Africa Fanta flavours.
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The Long Ride South: Pedal by Pedal
As I post each new story from the road, they will appear below in chronological order. Each post will contain stories, maps and photos from the road as it happened.
- Day 1: London to Newhaven
Fresh faced and cleanly shaven, kitted up in my new lycra and learning on the job how to handle a 50kg bike without completely stacking it. August 29th 2023 Today was a day of many firsts – first time riding the fully laden 40ish kg bike; first time cycling over 100km in a day; first… Read more: Day 1: London to Newhaven - Chapter 1: A baguette a day keeps the bonk at bay
Just as with many of life’s great adventures, this journey across two continents began against the epic backdrop of a 5am drizzle in a dreary French industrial port. - Chapter 2: The Spanish Traverse
I had put truly the bare minimum amount of planning into this 6 month adventure, and even less thought into the fact that I would be cycling across Spain. As it turned out, crossing Spain would be one of the most beautiful yet physically intense chapters of the entire journey to Cape Town.
UK: London to Newhaven
Day 1: 110km
France: Dieppe to Elizondo
Days 2-12: 1,060km
Spain: Elizondo to Gibraltar
Days 13-30: 1,255km
Morocco: Tangier to Laayoune
Days 31-46: 1,570km
Moroccan (Western) Sahara: Laayoune to Bir Gandouz
Days 47-58: 982km
Mauritania: Bir Gandouz to Saint-Louis
Days 59-64: 795km
Senegal: Saint-Louis to Kuntaur
Days 65-71: 625km
The Gambia: Kuntaur to Sambaïlo
Days 72-74: 257km
Guinea: Sambaïlo to Danane
Days 75-87: 1179km
Côte d’Ivoire: Danane to Elubo
Days 88-97: 792km
Ghana: Elubo to Lomé
Days 98-103: 574km
Togo & Benin: Lomé to Cotonou
Days 104-113: 162km
Nigeria: Cotonou to Calabar
Days 114-129: 832km
Cameroon: Idenao to Ntam
Days 130-139: 743km
Congo: Ntam to Kimongo
Days 140-153: 1,523km
Angola: Kimongo to Oshikango
Days 154-175: 1,997km
Namibia: Oshikango to Alexander Bay
Days 176-190: 1,680km
South Africa: Alexander Bay to Cape Town
Days 191-199: 871km
Reflections from the Road
Alongside the main blog series, which retells the journey chronologically, I’ll also be sharing a separate series of posts diving deeper into my reflections from months on the road. These will cover both heavier topics—like examining my motivations for taking on this challenge and confronting my own privilege daily—as well as lighter ones, including football, omelette culture, and my Top 10 Africa Fanta flavours.
- “Why?”
It may have been a crazy, insane decision, but it is also the best decision I’ve ever made. - One Year On: Why I’m Finally Writing It Down
13th March, 2025 Exactly one year ago I arrived at Cape Point, the end of a rocky peninsula just south of Cape Town where the road runs out and the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. This drew a line marking the end of a journey that is without a doubt the most awesome and life-changing thing I have ever done, and likely will ever do again. 199 days earlier I had left London on a bike that I had barely owned a week, with no idea what I was doing, and entirely unprepared for what the next 7 months would… Read more: One Year On: Why I’m Finally Writing It Down
Over the coming months I will be sharing my journey from London to Cape Town on two wheels. I aim to post roughly once a week – sometimes more, sometimes less. I’ll be tracking the story of the adventure as it happened: some posts will be about a single day that left a big impact on me, while others might cover 2 or more weeks that were relatively uneventful. As well as re-telling the chronological narrative of the journey, there may be some posts that explore my thoughts from the road from across the adventure, be it football, omelette culture, or my Top 10 Africa Fanta flavours
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