What’s your name and who are you?
My name is Abdullah Zeinab, although I try not to answer that question as it reminds me of being in school! ‘Who are you’ shouldn’t be reduced to one sentence.
You’ve just won The Trans Am Bike Race across the West to East Coast of America… Wow! What steps did you take to meet this goal?
There where thousands of small steps along the way. The training was a huge part of it, involving hundreds of hours, but that can come undone pretty quick if you don’t have a solid foundation. The foundation is your routine; brushing your teeth correctly, making your bed– the little things. It’s the accumulation of all those actions that make a ride successful.
How did you get into endurance cycling?
In 2017, I was filming a race called the Indian Pacific Wheel Race, a solo unsupported bike race from Perth to Sydney and I was sitting across from one of the leaders who was smiling while having dinner. I couldn’t understand how someone could ride over five hundred kilometers per day and still smile. That moment in particular caught my interest and I thought to myself, I have to try this if I get the opportunity.
How is endurance cycling different from normal cycling? What do you love about it?
In endurance cycling the amount of time riding is a lot higher than regular cycling. You can sometimes ride to 30 hours at a time. For me, it’s not that I necessarily love riding my bike, rather, I love the whole process behind it. I love what it takes to be able to ride so far and what you have to become to get it done. Riding long distances showed me what it was like to go from a below average human being back to average. The alone time and being removed from daily life really gives you a hard reality check.
We heard that hash browns were a staple in your diet (we’re huge fans of anything golden spud too), why the all-mighty hash brown?
In central America there aren’t too many vegetables to pick from. They were pretty much one of the only ones I could get a hold of frequently that would be good source of energy to ride.
We also noticed you have an apparel brand, can you give us some insight into the brand Infinite Outcomes?
Through riding I realised that the person standing in your way the whole time is you. Once you get out your own way, the potential is infinite. I wanted to start selling clothes that represented that.
Did you have a mantra or something specific that helped you stay focused?
When I’m out there and so tired it becomes easier than normal to focus. Once you go beyond a threshold, it’s almost like your body’s will to survive takes over and your usual style of thinking gets traded in for complete silence. It’s really just a matter of getting to that point. Usually, I want to quit from the first moment up until that point, but I would just reflect on the things I have thought of doing and never done. That gives me comfort and helps me keep pushing.
So, you’ve just cycled across America, what does the rest of 2019 look like for you?
The rest of 2019 will be spent relaxing for me. I am slowly increasing my training, but I won’t be doing any long rides for a while now. It takes so long to recover from an effort like that I don’t want to try and rush it. I will be doing some speaking events about the race in the upcoming months around Australia than head off to Europe to spend time with family.
How do you hope your amazing achievements will affect others?
What I did, anyone can do. Enduring is in our nature. Whoever is reading this is reading it because they endured and they’re ancestors did also. It’s our story. The sooner I can realise my potential, the sooner other people give themselves permission to do the same. To change others first you have to change yourself.
After an intense training session or race, what do you like to do to unwind and relax?
The best thing for me is to shift my focus elsewhere, that helps me unwind. Usually after training I will get home, have a shower and eat a meal with my girlfriend. I try not to think about training because it just winds me up and have trouble focusing or relaxing throughout the day.
You’re been training all day and are craving the Lord’s bounty, what’s your go-to LOTF order?
We used to do 24-hour Uber delivery shifts on our bikes. I would always go the next day and get a Parma Burger and Sweet Potato Fries. I would be thinking about it all shift!
