The journey begins!

Kamran Ali
Santos Travelmaster 3⁺

Today is a big day in my life as I begin my cycling journey across the Middle East & Africa after a gap of almost three years since the last big trip. It feels surreal to hit the road again and leave everything behind despite all the doubts and uncertainties.

My route from Muscat to UAE, Saudi, and Africa is not fixed. I don't know how much distance it will be and how much time it will take.

But it doesn't matter. All that matters is that I will be one with the road.

People often ask me what makes me go on bicycle tours.

It's not about the adventure. It's not about pushing the limits. And it is not about proving a point that one can cycle for so long.

It is about leaving the materialistic world behind and becoming nothing. It is about embracing the unknown and discovering strength in vulnerability. Maybe, it is the curiosity that drives me. Maybe, it is an escape from the worldly matters. Or, perhaps, it is the simple way of living and the freedom that makes me go on bicycle tours.

I don't have the exact answer. Don't ask a moth why he flies into the flame. He may be overcome with love.

Today, I take my first pedal into the nothingness from Muscat. I close my eyes and see some familiar and some unfamiliar faces. I hear some voices, some loud, some whispering. And I feel lost at the start line.

But, as I start pedaling in my country #44, everything disappears from the view except the road reaching the horizon. I hear nothing but the sound of my heart pounding on long slopes, and I feel nothing but the Middle Eastern sun blazing upon my skin.

I am back to where I truly belong! Nothing else matters in the world.

Kamran Ali

Adventurer by nature

Santos Rider Kamran, also known as KamranOnBike, is a Pakistani world cyclist. So far, he has cycled over 63,000 kilometers through 58 countries, and the count is still rising. Together with his Travelmaster 3+, he is now traveling from the Middle East to the south of Africa. He has not set himself a time limit but is guided mainly by nature and the inspiring people he meets along the way. That determines his route.

In the early 2000s, Kamran studied in Germany and then planned to cycle back to Pakistan one day. It took him ten years to actually do it. By now, cycling has become his way of life: “It is about leaving the materialistic world behind and becoming nothing. It is about embracing the unknown and discovering strength in vulnerability.”