A solo bike expedition on the harshest route on Earth
YEAR: 2013-2014
LOCATION: Tanami Desert, Grand Sandy Desert, Little Sandy Desert, Gibson Desert – Western Australia
PARTICIPANTS: Agnieszka and Mateusz Waligóra (2013), Mateusz Waligóra (2014)
TRANSPORTATION: specially designed ‘desert’ bike – fatbike
The Canning Stock Route (CSR) is probably the harshest road (route) on Earth. It leads through uninhabited and raw parts of western Australia, crosses four deserts and climbs over 900 sand dunes. It is close to 2000 kilometres of no water, food nor shelter from the scorching sun. It was marked more that 100 years ago by Alfred Canning to herd the cattle to the opposite verge of the continent. However, the conditions were so harsh and deaths so many that the route had never really served its purpose and was soon forgotten. In 1968 a team of explorers drove down the CSR in purpose-made off-roads cars. Crossing it by bike is one of the toughest challenges you can take on – we needed two attempts. In 2013 we were stopped in the middle of the Grand Sandy Desert by rainfalls – extremely rare in this location. A year later Mateusz accomplished a solo bike ride on the CSR within 29 days. He lost 16 kilograms in the process. This expedition was awarded with a special award in the category ‘Wyczyn Roku’ (Feat of the Year) at the Kolosy festival and nominated to ‘Travelery’ award in the category ‘Feat of the Year’ granted by National Geographic Polska.
Sponsors: Polartec, The North Face, Lyo Food
