Rob MacLennan spent two months bikepacking around Central Asia on a route he designed to take him through the cities of the Ancient Silk Road. It was an incredible adventure where he specifically sought out the more rugged roads, the more isolated the better. His route would eventually take him to the start line of the Silk Road Mountain Race, where he was relishing the opportunity to challenge himself on what is known as one of the hardest off road ultra races in the world. What happened next was a real lesson in determination and resilience, as setback after setback came Rob’s way, in the form of equipment failures. Each in their own right a reason to scratch from the race. That is for everyone except Rob.

I’m always intrigued to understand what gets people to sign up for an ultra race in the first place. I’ve also noticed a small trend appearing with guests who I have interviewed that go on a huge journey, then return home and take to ultra racing. Rob is a great example of this. A few years ago he rode from London to Cape Town. Reflecting on that journey he shared with me he had no clue at all about riding bikes, he had never even changed a puncture. But heading off on that trip was very much about challenging himself, as well as enjoying going full on into the unknown.

Returning back to life in London and starting off a corporate career wasn’t conducive to mroe long distance trips. But Rob was hooked on the feeling you get when you push yourself through hard things. Soon enough he was signing up for an ultra race and so began this chapter of his adventures. His first event, Hellenic Mountain Race, was very much jumping into the deep end. He followed that up with Bright Midnight in Norway and clearly enjoyed pushing himself to see what he was capable of.

Then came a career change, Rob moved to the US, signed up for years of studying a PHD and decided that he would make the most of a long study break by combining the feeling of adventure he enjoyed when touring down the west coast of Africa, with the challenge of racing an ultra. What he schemed up was a huge tour through Central Asia. Starting in Mongolia, he’d spend the next 7 weeks making his way through China, Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kygyzstan. Eventually he’d get himself to the start line and switch over from bikepacking mode to ultra racing.

His week’s spent touring would also assist him with heat adaptation, he hit temperatures of close to 50C cycling through the desert of Xinjiang in China, and his route was extremely mountainous. Rob says himself it was an ambitous route he had mapped out, of around 8500Km with just 7 weeks to get to the start line. Equipment problems plagued him almsot from the start and he shares a mad story of being behind the wheel of a minivan with 12 local Mongolian women, after he had a spectacular bottom bracket failure just 6 days into his trip. But as he learnt with his trip to Cape Town a few years earlier, there will always be a solution, and sometimes the side quests of making them work are what you remember the most from these kind of adventures. As the host of the show I can attest that they do make for the best stories!

In every country Rob travelled through the kindness shown to him by complete strangers was constantly on display. Melon farmers in Uzbekistan from a roadside stall gladly cutting up their produce to share with him, families in Mongolia sharing all they had and offering him safe shelter for the night in the Ger just a few examples of this. When his bike once again broke down in Kazakhstan a driver of a truck quickly lashed his bike onto the top of his cargo of watermelons, to transport him to a city where he could get help.

Afghanistan gave him insights to another world. One shut off to us and ravaged by decades of war. He shares how being cut off from 50% of the population due to the strict laws governing women in the country was not something that sat comfortably with him. It was there he also learnt a new lesson. At Taliban checkpoints where guards would quite happily share food and tea with him, he also saw how humans have a great capacity for kindness which also sit contradictory to their views.

Eventually Rob got to the start line, a few kgs leaner than he would have liked owing to the worst food poisoning of his life! But he was excited to be racing. The first day went extremely well and he was right up at the pointy end of the field. His plan of spending 7 weeks at altitude and also acclimatising to the heat was workign it seemed. That was until his crankset completely broke from his bike. An equipment failure that woudl cause many participants to pull the pin and scratch. Any thought of trying for a top finish were scuppered, and instead Rob’s race turned into one against ‘the snail’, where he hoped he could find a solution and at least finish the route and get to each assigned checkpoint within the alloted time.

He managed to get hold of a rental bike in Bishkek and by way of an €800 return taxi was back on the race route. He had a wild experience of searching in a bicycle scrapyard for a longer seat post and was on his way. Amazingly the bike store somehow managed to get hold of the right parts to fix his bike, and with a delay of 24 hours he was setting off again on his original bike. Unfortunately for Rob the equipment problems continued right up until the end where he suffered a tyre wall tear that even the best stitch job produced from a Christmas cracker needle and thread kit couldn’t repair.

Eventually he would roll into the finish line, beating the snail and claiming a very respectable finish in the Silk Road Mountain Race. Rob shared with me his mantra on this journey consisted of three words. Patience, gratitude and determination. He lived and breathed that mantra. Well done Rob!

You can follow Rob’s adventures via his instagram – @Robbo_on_the_road