A West Kirby student has completed an epic journey after cycling over 2000 miles from Morocco to West Kirby in only five weeks.
Ollie Bradley-Baker, 20, cycled alone through Morocco, Spain, Portugal, France, England, and Wales, right through to his doorstep in West Kirby.
The Fine Art student at the University of Lancaster, decided to take on the cycling adventure as a way to save money on air fares after visiting friends in Portugal over the Summer.
The former Calday Grange Grammar School pupil said: “I thought where’s close to Portugal? Morocco. If I’m already there I may as well cycle back as well then I only have to pay for one flight!”
He packed his bicycle with the bare essentials needed to survive including a tent, sleeping bag x 2 (one thick, one thin), a knife, a spork, clothes, repair tools, a map, a solar charger, a lighter, a helmet, his toothbrush and his passport.
Practically travelling through a country a week, starting in Morocco, Ollie cycled an average of 100 miles a day.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing as the heat in Morocco proved to be too much. Even at midnight it was 38 degrees, and on one scorching day he had to catch a bus because his nose started bleeding, and wouldn’t stop.
During his time in Morocco it was the month of Ramadan, which caused the biggest obstacle for the cyclist along his journey.
He said: “All of the shops were closed so I couldn’t eat during the day I had to buy all my water and food the day before and carry everything.”
The heat, the lack of available food in the day time, what else did Ollie have to conquer? Oh yes, wild dogs.
He said: “I carried an air horn to keep them away, it worked quite well. In the little towns I passed there everyone carries sticks around with them because these dogs they want to eat you.”
When asked what he had learnt on his adventure, he replied: “I could drink 12 litres of water a day and not wee!”
“I learnt how to navigate and wild camp properly. Things that I kind of knew how to do but wasn’t confident in doing them but now if someone said cycle to France I’d say no problem I know exactly how to do it now.”
Although he cycled alone for the majority of the trip, Ollie was met by his friend Max who accompanied him on his bike through Snowdonia to West Kirby on the last stretch of the journey.
He said: “It’s quite a long time to be on your own. I didn’t get lonely but that can change from person to person. I took music and I met loads of people on my way.”
Ollie’s noble steed was a nine-year-old mountain bike. Overall, it got him safely from A to B but not without the rack breaking twice and the chain snapping three times. Not too bad for a mountain bike that’s done over 5000km in it’s time.
So, can just about anyone do something like this? Ollie said: “You definitely get in to it, after two weeks you can go for as long as three weeks. Your body just cycles and you wake up and you’re not even tired.
“After you pass that three week mark I reckon you could go on to do three months until you hit the next barrier.”
“The thing that stood out to me the most was when I got home and looked at my stuff and realised this is all I’ve had for five weeks. Then you look around your room at home and compare it to all the stuff you have, but it wasn’t hard to live like that once you got in to it.
“Everything you normally take for granted, this trip changed that completely you’re so used to having food at home, and knowing where you’re going to sleep, it was quite hard to have that taken away from me for five weeks.”
A custom bicycle specialist, based in Lancashire, called Hewitt Cycles, wants to build a bike inspired by Ollie’s trip. The adventure bike which Ollie will be using for his next big ride will be custom made for long distance and off-road.
For Ollie’s next adventure he is aiming to cycle from England to Mongolia in eight weeks. There he wants to take part in the Mongol Rally, something no one has ever completed on a bicycle.
If you’re interested in the Fine Art student’s adventure and want to see more he has created two pieces of art, inspired by his bike ride which will be shown at a group art exhibition called ‘Re-Creation’ coming up on Friday 7th October in the View Two Gallery, 28 Matthew Street, Liverpool.
