Salt Rock’s Jacqueline Nel is a Renaissance woman; part medical professional and part world-travelling cyclist.
An adventure addict, Jacqueline has visited 80 countries, cycled the length of three continents, completed twenty marathons and ultra-marathons, including the Comrades, and climbed some of the world’s highest peaks.
There is little that frightens the 61-year-old, who appears to be most at peace when alone with the sound of her own thoughts and surrounded by boundless desert sands.
Originally from Greytown, Jacqueline studied radiography before spending most of her adult life in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Although she had always been a runner and open to adventure sports, it was not until 2014 that she decided to take on trans-continental cycling. Her first trip was an epic trek from Hong Kong to Sydney.
“I had heard about the Tour D’Afrique company [now TDA Global Cycling] because I always wanted to cycle from Cape Town to Cairo, which they do every year,” said Jacqueline.
“I heard they were pioneering this new tour through South East Asia and Australia and I decided to go for it.”
The tour took her through ten countries, to the top of the highest mountain in Borneo and for weeks through the desolate Australian outback.
She was hooked. For the next six years her routine became to work for six months to earn enough money to travel during Sweden’s winter.
Her 2015 trip was her longest, cycling the length of South America from northern Colombia to the foot of Argentina.
“That was 14 000km over almost six months, including 2 000km of continuous dirt road through Patagonia. That was tough!” she said.
The next year brought Jacqueline the trip she describes as her proudest, following the historic Silk Road route from Beijing to Istanbul – some 12 000km.
“It was an incredible journey where I was both the hottest and coldest I have ever been. I particularly loved Mongolia, where we cycled alongside wild horses and past nomadic tribes.”
“We were nomadic too, never sleeping in one place for more than a day at a time. You discover a sense of calm when all you have to do is wake up and cycle. No taxes, no chores, just you and your bike.”
In the years since, Jacqueline cycled the length of Madagascar and Cuba, from Morocco to Ghana and half of her dream trip from Cairo to Cape Town in 2020.
“We made it all the way to Tanzania, typically the hardest part of the trip, before we had to stop during Covid-19, which is when I moved to Salt Rock.”
“After all this travelling I don’t even want to go to Durban, the bug is out of my system! I do want to complete the rest of the trip from Kenya to Cape Town, however.”
Jacqueline now works remotely in clinical research, specifically with MRIs, which has long been her professional focus.
The majority of her epic cycles have been with TDA Global Cycling, which offer semi-supported trips and the relative safety of a group of cyclists.
But that does not mean danger is avoidable. Jacqueline has faced everything from sandstorms in the Gobi Desert and narrowly avoiding a bridge being blown up by gangs in Colombia, to having stones thrown at her in Ethiopia.
But she made it and hopes to inspire other women to test their own limits.
For a brief window into her travels, you can read her travel blogs at silk-sand-and-vodka.blogspot.com
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