Episode 155: Claire Wyatt (part 1)

Cycling from Mongolia to the UK

An Epic Journey Home

It was great to get the opportunity to once again speak with adventurer Claire Wyatt and what can only be described as an epic bike adventure. I’ve featured Claire on the podcast a few times now, but this session was a little different as this time, Claire was home. Properly home. And she had just finished one of the biggest journeys of her life, riding from Mongolia all the way back to the UK.

I have followed Claire’s adventures for years now. From riding around Australia, to Southeast Asia, and now across some of the most remote and demanding landscapes on earth. I love the honesty with which she shares here experiences. Claire never sugarcoats what life on the road looks like, and she never tries to turn hardship into something glamorous. Over and above everything what comes across is Claire feels an extreme sense of gratefulness to have taken these incredible journeys.

In this first part of our conversation, we spend a lot of time at the beginning of her journey, both mentally and physically. We talk about the nerves before departure, the weight of other people’s fears, and that familiar wobble many of us feel right before stepping into something big. Claire is open about how anxious she felt in the days leading up to leaving, questioning whether she should go at all, and absorbing the concerns of people around her who could not relate to what she was about to do.

That doubt, however, did not last long.

As soon as Claire landed in Mongolia and rolled out of Ulaanbaatar, she slipped back into a rhythm that felt deeply familiar. She talks about how quickly the city gives way to vast open space, how it takes days to truly feel remote, and how the scale of Mongolia slowly reveals itself. Endless plains, big skies, sudden storms, white yurts scattered across the landscape, and a feeling of being very small in a very big place.

Mongolia did not ease her in gently. Within the first weeks she dealt with ripped tyres, violent storms, lightning, river crossings, brutal winds and a tent that quite literally tore apart in the night. There were moments where there was nowhere to hide, nowhere to shelter, and no option other than to stop and wait it out on the open steppe. It was raw, unpredictable, and demanding in every sense. It was also the adventure that Claire wanted to be having.

Woven through those hard days were also constant acts of kindness. Cars pulling over with food. Locals stopping to check on her. Conversations shared despite language barriers. These moments grounded Claire, reminding her why she chooses to travel this way and why, despite everything, she kept moving forward.

Claire also speaks powerfully about mindset in this episode. About learning to channel fear into excitement. About recognising when other people’s fears are being placed on you, particularly as a solo woman, and choosing not to carry those fears as your own. Mongolia, in many ways, reinforced what she already knew. That she could trust herself. That she could adapt. That she could handle far more than she sometimes gave herself credit for.

As the journey continued, one of the most intense and memorable sections came later in China, on the Duku Highway. This was not a route Claire had planned to ride. It came about through conversations with locals and a desire to avoid long, busy highways. What followed was a high altitude mountain road that would push her to the edge physically and mentally.

Claire rode the Duku Highway just as the season was closing. Snow arrived unexpectedly. Temperatures dropped rapidly. Visibility disappeared into whiteout conditions. She climbed in relatively warm weather, only to find herself dangerously cold on the descent, under layered, exposed, and what felt like being a bit too close to hypothermia. It became one of the biggest lessons of the entire journey, a reminder that the mountains do not care how experienced you are.

But as has happened to Claire on many occassions during her other bike adventures, strangers came to her aide. Locals ushered her into a small restaurant, sat her by a fire, pouring endless cups of hot tea, and feeding her until the shaking stopped. Later that night, she shared a yurt with other cyclists, buried under layers of blankets as the temperature dropped well below zero outside. It was another moment where hardship and human kindness existed side by side and it’s these experiences Claire wants to share with others.

Claire articulates the contrast between the dream and the reality so well. There are days of endless rain, flooded campsites, brutal cold, broken gear and long hours of riding without seeing much at all. And yet, when things got hard, she kept reminding herself this is her dream. Yes, it’s hard sometimes and certainly far from glamourous. But her inner voice knew she needed to accept that her dream wouldn’t just be a composed of an awesome highlight reel. You’ve got to climb the mountain to get to the views after all.

Claire speaks candidly about safety as a solo woman, and how she’s been able to prove both to herself and others that the world she cycles through is not as dangerous as many assume, and about how those experiences have shaped her belief in humanity.

There is a deep sense of reflection in this episode. Claire talks about privilege, passport freedom, and the complicated feelings that can surface after years of long term travel. She is honest about gratitude, guilt, and the reality that not everyone can simply pack up and leave, even if they want to.

This journey for Claire was also about finishing something that had lived in her mind for years. Riding Mongolia to London was a dream she carried with her since she first came across the books of Dervla Murphy. For Claire this adventure felt very much like closing a chapter and she knows she needs to allow herself space for whatever comes next.

Part one of this episode sets the scene. It is about beginnings, mindset, and learning to embrace both the beauty and the brutality of life on the road. In part two, we will go deeper into the journey itself, the challenges that came later, and how this experience has shaped Claire’s life now that she has chosen to slow down and settle.

If you have ever dreamed of a big adventure but felt held back by fear, doubt, or other people’s expectations, this conversation with Claire is for you.

Be sure to follow Claire’s future adventures via her instagram page – @exploringbybicycle

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