Two months ago, 45-year-old cyclist Kunle Adeyanju announced his London-to-Lagos trip on social media. He embarked on this transcontinental journey in April to raise funds for Rotary International’s fight against polio. In a recent interview with popular YouTuber, Tayo Aina, he shared his experience, stating the challenges he faced and what the journey meant to him.
Covering more than 12,000 kilometers, Adeyanju rode through some of the most treacherous landscapes on the journey. He faced three intense sandstorms. “I couldn’t see my finger,” he said.
When asked if he ever thought of giving up? The cyclist stated that giving up never came to his mind because he knew what he was going into, he knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and he was ready to face it. “Give up? No. Because I knew what I was going into.” He said
The rotary member also stated that one of the things that surprised him was African Hospitality. Contrary to what he has heard about Africans, he wasn’t expecting the kind of hospitality he received from them on his journey. He also shared his excitement over Bill Gates recognizing his efforts and impact on the fight against polio. According to him, he is happy the campaign is getting the recognition it is getting now.
“I had plans on what to do in the next 5 years or 10 years. Traveling from London to Lagos is one of the things on my bucket list.” He said.
The cyclist shared his previous experience in cycling. “I am a member of the University cycling team and I’ve been cycling competitively for the past 25 years.”
In an interview with Punch, he shared the many death scares he got; “Several times I came close to dying. I actually saw death several times. When people say they saw death I never believed that, but when I saw that like four times in Sahara and Mali I now believe that death exists.
“God just wants to keep me alive, that is why death did not take me. But one thing I said to myself was that whatever it took I would not quit,” the biker said.
In this interview with Tayo Aina, he talked about how the human body listens to what we say. ” I knew that if I fell I’d die so I kept saying: don’t fall if you fall you’ll die. I didn’t fall.”
“Some people may say theirs are not enough but we have all been blessed. So those things you’ve been given, how can you use them to touch the lives of other people?”
Watch the full interview here: