Valtteri Bottas details 418km Malaysia–Singapore cycling ride with snakes, lizards and night jungle
Valtteri Bottas revealed this week that he completed a 418km bicycle ride between Malaysia and Singapore in four days ahead of this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix. He said the route involved encounters with snakes, a lizard he had to jump over, being chased by a dog and riding through the jungle at night.
The 37-year-old Cadillac driver took on the challenge after a suggestion from his girlfriend, the Australian Olympic cyclist Tiffany Cromwell, and is a keen cyclist. He set off on the Sunday after the race in Malaysia while the rest of the F1 paddock travelled by flights that last just over an hour. Bottas, who has won 10 grands prix, included off-road and gravel sections on his route.
Bottas completed 56km on the Sunday, put in two long days of 161km on both Monday and Tuesday, and finished with 40km on Wednesday, covering the 418km in four days. The trip included varied surfaces and overnight riding as he moved from Sepang towards Singapore.
He recounted the wildlife and disruptions he encountered on the roads, saying: "Saw some snakes, which I was a little bit worried about but actually they were pretty chill. They were just doing their thing," he said. "I saw one cobra, saw one python just crossing the path in front of me. Saw some of those big lizards that you also see here. "One was on the path, I had to jump over it with a bike. So I saw it like last minute. Got chased by one dog. Got stuck behind a group of cows on a small track. Eventually they moved away."
Bottas described night riding in the forest as the most intense element of the trip, saying: "What was the wildest part was the riding at night in the jungle. The noise in there is like … your mind starts to play games of what is out there. But then you just need to crack on and keep going. Riding with your lights at night, that was probably the most epic part in the forest." He also said the heat had made his bike seat like a "cheese grinder" but insisted it would not harm his race preparation.
On his preparation he added: "I obviously wouldn’t do it if I knew it hurt my preparation," he said. "So I’m pretty good. The amount of sweat in those days was quite impressive. You get used to the heat the more time you spend in the heat, so that can help me hopefully a little bit." Earlier this year he finished fifth in his age group in a qualifying event in Czechia for the Gravel World Championships, earning him a place he is unable to take up because it clashes with the race this weekend.
With Cadillac in their first season in F1 the team are still very much coming up to speed; Bottas has yet to score a point and is 22nd in the drivers’ standings, with eight DNFs in what the article describes as a difficult year for the fledgling team. The race in Sepang was a one-off to stand in for the cancelled Bahrain GP, but it is believed talks have opened about a potential return for the circuit in future, which Bottas said may prompt him to repeat the feat.
"When I got to the hotel yesterday afternoon, I said to myself, no, not again. But now, today, I’m like, yeah. Let’s see," he said. Bottas spoke before this Sunday’s night race in Singapore and is due to contest the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend.